Skills you will learn in this recipe
Making vinaigrette; chopping & dressing salad; cooking halloumi
Links to the last recipe
Poaching & shredding poultry; prepping ginger; snipping spring onions; using Asian flavours
This is perhaps our favourite salad, there’s something about the flavour and texture combination that really sings – crisp savoury duck, sweet watermelon, salty halloumi, crunchy cashews – all toped with a soy and sesame dressing and a kick of chilli heat. Delicious!
It would work just as well using only duck or only halloumi (to also make it vegetarian, and lower cost) if you prefer, but we are greedy and love it all together.
The way we cook the duck for this is slightly unusual – we poach it, shred it and then crisp it in a hot oven. This gives a really crispy texture that works particularly well in this salad and is much lower fat than roasted crispy duck. But you could roast the duck breast instead (keep the skin on, then remove when roasted) or buy ready roasted duck, but do try our method as it does give a great result.
First remove the skin from the uncooked duck. This is trickier with duck than with chicken so pull the skin firmly but carefully, and if it doesn’t yield at first, try loosening from a different side. We then like to trim off any obvious residual skin or white fat, and any sinew, with sharp scissors to give a really clean result like the middle image below. You can then poach and shred the duck as you do for chicken – you can find detailed instructions in our Tip. Today we poached in bone broth as this is a flavoursome, lower fat option and we wanted the stock for another dish. But you can also poach in chicken or vegetable stock.
Duck takes longer to poach than chicken – ours today took about 15 minutes. Check it by cutting into it – it should be evenly coloured to the centre as in the first image below. But for this dish we are double cooking, so it’s not as vitally important for the duck to be cooked all the way through at this stage. Heat your oven to 200C (180C fan).
Grease a baking tray with a thin layer or olive or other oil, then shred the duck with a fork. You can find out how in our Tip. Duck is a bit tougher to shred than chicken, so use firm pressure with the fork. Place the shredded duck on the tray, season with salt and pepper – we like to use Szechuan pepper in this dish, but use it sparingly as a little goes a long way. Bake until crispy. This can be very fast – ours today took about 6 mins, but do check it frequently and also move the duck around a bit using tongs or a spatula to make sure it cooks evenly and crisps on all sides.
Your crispy duck should look brown and dry, as below. Test a piece – it should be crisp but still retain a little juiciness in the centre. Reserve until later.
While the duck is poaching and roasting, you can start to prep your vegetables. Cut the bushy end off the spring onions, and remove the outer layer. Cut into medium sized diagonal pieces – this is easier to do if you snip them with scissors.
Also chop the coriander and mint, see how in our Tip. Next slice the chillies – how many depends on how hot they are and how spicy you want it (smaller chilies tend to be hotter). Today we used two large red ones that were medium hot. You can learn about prepping chillies in our Tip, but today we want them finely sliced not chopped.
To do this, first cut both ends of the chili(es) and remove the seeds, especially if you want it less hot. You also want to remove the white pith.
Jake sticks his nose in
Much of the heat in a chilli is in the seeds and particularly the white spines of pith. You can leave both in if you like it spicy, or remove if you want less heat or a cleaner finish.
Slice the chillies across into slim rounds, then cut finer into matchstick pieces. This will be nicer to eat in the finished dish, and give a more polished look than chopped chillies.
You can now prep the watermelon. Watermelons vary greatly in size from tiny to enormous! Today we found a nice mini watermelon that was still a decent size, so we used all of it in our dish. If yours is very large you’ll probably need about half. We find smaller watermelons tend to have fewer or smaller seeds, and also tend to be sweeter, but it is not a precise science!
Jake sticks his nose in
Bibi and Taid’s tip when choosing watermelons was to tap them before buying. The ones that sound hollow are the ripest and best!
Whole watermelons can be quite difficult to cut into, and a normal kitchen knife can easily slip or get stuck. We find it best to use a serrated knife – a bread knife is ideal – to cut the melon into slices. We then use a chef’s knife to cut out and dice the flesh. Start by cutting the melon in half with the bread knife.
Now cut it into large slices, again using the bread knife, then slice out the flesh with the chef’s knife. Cut into medium cubes, then reserve. It’s a good idea to let the cubes dry on some kitchen paper so they are not too wet, and don’t end up sitting in their juice while you do the rest of the prep.
You can now prepare the halloumi prior to frying later. Halloumi normally comes in packets with a little liquid inside, so you may wish to open them over a sink or bowl. Cut the cheese into thick slices then cube – you’ll find most halloumi has a natural crack down the middle so follow this to cut each slice into two before cubing. Place on kitchen towel to dry. Also cover with kitchen towel and press down gently to dry the other side. You won’t fry these until a few minutes before serving, so set aside on the kitchen towel, or put in a bowl lined and topped with kitchen towel, and store in the fridge until needed.
Jake sticks his nose in
Halloumi is much easier to fry, and you’ll get a much nicer result, if it is really dry. It needs a good 10 minutes on the kitchen towel to dry properly, ideally a little longer.
Now toast the cashews. As with all nuts they can burn quickly if you don’t watch them, and you need to stir them frequently – they will be done in just a few minutes. Get a frying pan really hot, testing it with your hand. Do not put oil in the pan – the natural oil in the cashews will be enough. Keep stirring until browned, and little dark patches appear on the surface of the nuts, as in the image below. When this happens, remove the pan from the heat immediately and place the nuts into a cold bowl to arrest the cooking. Stir the nuts in the bowl occasionally to release the heat from those at the bottom.
Also chop the mint and coriander, following our Tip. Your key ingredients are now prepped and your ‘mise en place’ is ready!
You can now make your vinaigrette. Follow the method used in out Tip. The recipe is very similar to a the classic vinaigrette, but we don’t use mustard in this one, we replace the vinegar with lime juice, and also replace one tablespoon of olive oil with one scant tablespoon of sesame oil. We also add one tablespoon of soy sauce before the final shaking of the jar. Finally, add the zest of one lime (see our Tip), cut smaller, one garlic clove, finely chopped (see our Tip), one teaspoon of grated ginger (see our Tip) and a generous pinch of both chopped herbs, and shake the jar again.
Jake sticks his nose in
Sesame oil brings a lovely nuttiness to this dressing. But add with caution – a little goes a long way and it can take over and become cloying. Slightly less than a tablespoon is plenty here, and you can also start with less and add more until you like the flavour.
The result is a very flavoursome vinaigrette that beautifully blends sweet (sugar), savoury (soy and sesame oil), sharp (lime juice and zest) with a burst of Asian flavours and a tiny touch of heat from the garlic and ginger. It really brings the finished dish together and makes it ‘zing’. Store the jar in the fridge until you are ready to use, bringing it out about half an hour before needed, otherwise the cold will deaden your lovely flavours.
You are now ready to assemble and dress your salad, fry the halloumi and top the salad with both this and the crispy duck.
Take a large salad bowl and dress it with salad greens. Today we used watercress as we think it is a particularly good match for the salad, but you can use any green you like – pea shoots, baby spinach, lamb’s lettuce or a supermarket green salad mix all work well. You could use rocket too, but we think the peppery flavour fights a little with this dish. Add two thirds of the chopped mint and the chopped coriander to the greens, then give the vinaigrette a final good shake and add about two thirds of it to the salad. Toss well with salad servers or large forks to really coat the leaves in the dressing. Reserve the rest of the vinaigrette to drizzle over at the end, along with the rest of the mint for sprinkling.
Now add the spring onions and cashew nuts, and toss the salad again to coat everything in the dressing.
Now add the chopped watermelon and top with the crispy duck.
You can now fry your halloumi. It’s best to do this just a few minutes before you plan to serve – warm halloumi makes the salad even nicer and heartier. However, you can fry it before, reserve and add cold if that’s easier (just don’t add it fridge cold, room temperature is fine).
Take a large, preferably non stick pan and set it over a medium heat. When the pan is nicely hot (test it with your hand as before) add the dry halloumi – you may need to do this in batches if you use a lot of halloumi or your pan is small. Today we had a large enough pan so were able to do in one batch – the trick is to make sure all the cheese can fit in one layer, and not too crowded together, as every cube needs to touch the hot pan, and you need to be able to move it around as it cooks. Leave the halloumi without stirring until the bottom side begins to brown, a couple of minutes – check a piece by removing it with tongs or a fork. Once the underside is nicely brown, quickly flip all the halloumi over to the other side, tongs are easiest to do this with, and leave again until brown – this will likely happen slightly faster than with the first side. You want a really nice dark brown colour, and slightly crispy surface, as in the last picture below.
When browned, quickly add the halloumi to the salad, scatter over the chopped chillies, drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette, and sprinkle with the remaining mint. Your delicious salad is ready to enjoy!
Bon appetit!
Crispy Duck, Halloumi & Watermelon Salad
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan).
- First poach the duck. Bring the stock or bone broth to the boil in a large pan. Remove the skin from the duck, then add to the pan and poach until cooked to the centre, about 15 minutes, but check by cutting into it – it should be cooked to the centre with little or no red or pink. Shred the duck with a fork. See our poaching & shredding Tip.
- Place the shredded duck on a lightly greased baking tray, season with a little salt and Szechuan pepper and bake in the oven until crisp, about 6 minutes – test a piece to check it is crisp but still juicy in the centre. Reserve.
- While the duck is cooking, prep your vegetables. Snip the spring onions into medium diagonal pieces. Slice the chillies into fine batons. Cut the watermelon into slices, remove the flesh and dice into medium cubes. Reserve on some kitchen paper to dry. Chop both herbs, see our herb Tip.
- Cut the halloumi into medium cubes, and place in a single layer on some kitchen paper. Top with more paper and press down to help dry it. Leave to dry for at least 10 mins before cooking.
- Toast the cashews in a hot, dry pan, stirring continuously until slightly charred. Reserve to a plate or bowl to cool.
- Make the vinaigrette dressing, you can find the base method in our dressing Tip. Add one tbsp lime juice plus one tbsp olive oil to a jar and shake to emulsify. Add two more tbsps olive oil, one scant tbsp sesame oil, and one tbsp soy sauce and shake again. Add the zest of one lime, cut finer, see our citrus Tip; one clove garlic, finely chopped, see our garlic Tip; a small knob of ginger, peeled and grated, see our ginger Tip; and a generous pinch of both chopped herbs. Shake the jar again, and reserve.
- Now assemble the salad. Add the watercress or other salad greens to a large serving bowl. Add two thirds of the chopped mint and the chopped coriander plus two thirds of the vinaigrette and toss well to combine. Add the spring onions and cashews and toss again. Add the watermelon and top with the crispy duck.
- Fry the halloumi in a medium hot pan, preferably dry, but if your pan is not non-stick add a very little oil. Flip over when the underside browns, and when the halloumi is golden on both sides, add to the salad.
- Scatter over the chopped chillies and the remaining mint and drizzle with the remaining dressing.
- Enjoy!