We went out to dinner the other night, and we both had roast duck. This is quite a treat for us – the restaurant was O’Neil’s, in Winnetka, and the ducks were very good. Whenever we order duck I always take the carcasses home, because an excellent soup can be made from the bones and the shreds of meat still clinging to them. In this case, the ducks were very meaty, making the next day’s soup even better than usual. As M. F. K. Fisher says in her book “With Bold Knife and Fork,” “There is excitement and real satisfaction in making an artful good soup from things usually tossed away…”
left-over bones from one whole roast duck or two halves
5 to 6 cups chicken stock
1 T Japanese soy sauce
salt
2 scallions, slivered
bok choy or lettuce (optional)
Chop up the duck carcasses and put them into a pot with the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes. Strain into another pot, then pick over the bones and stuff in the strainer and remove the bits of meat. Discard the bones and any bits of fat or cartilage. Add the meat to the stock, along with the soy sauce. Add salt to taste. Add the slivered scallions and heat through. Serve as is, or add some greens:
Cut the bok choy or lettuce into 1″ wide strips. If using bok choy, boil it separately until tender, then drain. Add the bok choy or lettuce to the duck soup and simmer gently until the greens are heated through (a little longer if you’re using bok choy and like it a little bit more tender). Serve while hot.
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