London restaurant, Le Caprice, was once famous for celebrity diners, including Princess Diana and Elizabeth Taylor, but it closed its doors during the pandemic.
One famous dish that lives on in restaurant critic Jay Rayner’s memory (and kitchen) though is chef Mark Hix’s crispy duck salad, also on the menu at the Ivy.
And here’s taken inspiration from the famous dish for his own, much easier, recipe.
Crispy duck salad
Ingredients
(Serves 4 as a starter)
2 confit duck legs
4tbsp hoi sin sauce
For the salad:
1tbsp sesame seeds
100g watercress or rocket, stalks trimmed (you can also add fresh coriander if you fancy)
6 large radishes, sliced
4 spring onions, trimmed and sliced into batons
For the salad dressing:
2tbsp olive oil
1½tbsp sherry vinegar (white wine vinegar is a good alternative)
1tsp sesame oil
Sea salt
Method
1. Gently toast the sesame seeds in a dry cast iron frying pan, over a medium heat. Keep watch. They burn easily. When most of them are lightly golden brown, remove to a bowl, add a pinch of table salt, and set aside. Wipe down the pan to remove any stray sesame seeds that are hanging about. They don’t taste at all nice when burnt.
2. Separate out the duck legs and place them skin side down in the frying pan over the lowest heat. Do not add any oil. They’ll produce more than enough fat of their own. Turn every 5 minutes or so, as they start to colour.
3. After about 10 or 15 minutes, take the pan off the heat. Using a fork and a sharp knife you should be able to pull the meat away from the bone. Break it up into smaller pieces, with the skin down. Put back on to the heat. Use a spatula to continue breaking up the meat into smaller pieces. Attend to any pieces of skin that come away from the meat. They may look a bit fatty, but gently increase the heat and they will crisp up, though do keep an eye on it all so it doesn’t burn.
4. Once crisped, remove the leg bones and keep them as a chef ’s perk. Stand by the stove, chewing off the last bits of meat while no one else is watching. You’ve earned it. When the duck is broken up and crisped take the pan off the heat.
5. Put the ingredients for the salad dressing into the bottom of a bowl, including a good pinch of sea salt. Pile the leaves and sliced radishes on top, then toss and turn to coat in the dressing using your hands or, if you’re a little uptight, salad servers. Portion out on to four plates or flat bowls.
6. Put the hoi sin sauce in the bottom of a mixing bowl. Add the duck and mix to coat every piece completely. Top each portion of the salad with a quarter of the duck. Sprinkle on the toasted sesame seeds and decorate with the batons of spring onion.
Nights Out At Home by Jay Rayner is published in hardback by Penguin, priced £22. Available September 5
