Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 366 kcal | 104 kcal |
| Protein | 41.5 g | 11.8 g |
| Fat | 13 g | 3.7 g |
| saturated | 4.2 g | 1.2 g |
| Carbohydrate | 14.4 g | 4.1 g |
| sugars | 13.2 g | 3.7 g |
| Fibre | 0.2 g | 0.1 g |
| Sodium | 1730 mg | 491 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 2.6 kg boneless duck breasts, all skin and fat removed
- 1 1/4 cups soy sauce
- 1 cup sherry
- 1 cup honey
- 1/4 cup grated fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons meat tenderizer
- 16 fresh garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2 fresh chilli peppers, seeded and chopped
Instructions
- Duck breast carries a thick fat cap and a layer of fat under the skin, and none of it can stay. Fat does not dry at any temperature a dehydrator reaches; it simply turns rancid in the jar, and duck fat does it fast.
- Chill the breasts hard before slicing — the colder they are, the cleaner the fat cuts away from the meat.
- Slice at 6 mm. Duck has a looser grain than beef and the strips tear easily, so support each one as it comes off the knife.
- Grate the ginger, crush the garlic and seed the chilli, then stir them into the soy, sherry and honey with the tenderiser. Duck muscle is worked harder than a chicken breast and takes the tenderiser to good effect.
- Marinate the strips covered in the fridge overnight at least. Sherry and honey both need time to get past the surface of a dense red meat.
- Drain them thoroughly and lay them out without overlap. Duck gives up fat as it warms, so put a solid liner under the bottom tray to catch the drips.
- Dehydrate at 71 °C for 7 hours. Duck is poultry whatever its colour, so the setting stays where it is and there is no pink-in-the-middle version of this recipe.
- Blot the strips with paper towel part way through if beads of fat appear on the surface. Fat left sitting on a strip is what turns a batch sharp-tasting in the second week.
- The jerky is ready when it bends without snapping and nothing wet shows in the bend. Cool it right down, blot it once more and seal it — and because of the fat, treat a month as the outside limit unless it goes in the freezer. Goose works in exactly the same marinade.
