Chinese food leftovers? Make duck fried rice

Chinese food is never bad leftover, but jazz it up by making Peking duck and cold rice into delicious duck fried rice. Just a few veggies and a quick turn in the skillet, and you'll have a new dinner in minutes.

This is something I first had when I was a teenager, from the House of Lam restaurant located along Route 3, in southern Illinois. This recipe uses leftover Peking duck, which is commonly found in many Chinese restaurants. It is commonly ordered for special occasions, during the winter holidays through the Chinese New Year in February.

I don’t include a recipe for Peking duck because in this, I used a small quantity of duck I purchased at CAM market in Cincinnati. They offer it at their “deli”, along with char siu pork (roasted red pork). They used to sell the ducks whole, but they now cut it up and put it in smaller packages. Just the right size for making a nice little batch of fried rice I think. But if you order the duck in the restaurant and manage to have leftovers, you could use that as well.

Chinese duck fried rice
Serves 2 

4-6 ounces Chinese roast Peking duck, chopped
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 cups leftover steamed white rice
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
Salt and black pepper
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Soy sauce (amount to taste)

1. Remove bones from duck and discard; chop the meat. A little bit of skin of okay, but not too much. 

2. Heat oil in a large skillet and add duck, rice, onion, peas/carrots, garlic, ginger, and salt and pepper. Cook, stirring until onions soften and start to brown. Make a well in the center of the rice in the skillet and pour in eggs. Pour sesame oil on top of eggs.

3. As eggs begin to set, stir them around without stirring into the rice, and as eggs set, then stir it all together.

4. Serve with as much soy sauce as you like – some people like a little, some a lot, some none at all. I serve it on the table.

Related post on A Palatable Pastime: Chinese New Year Recipes