Rare gingered duck with sweet tare

This recipe came about by accident, like so many that are the result of putting together whatever is in the cupboard or the freezer. It is essentially Japanese, thanks to the tare, or sauce, but why not cross cultures and serve the duck with Chinese pancakes, spring onions and cucumber. If you want to be a purist serve the duck with soba (buckwheat noodles) instead of the pancakes.

Make four slashes in the skin of each duck breast fillet, and then lay them skin-side up on a plate. Squeeze the grated ginger over the duck to extract every drop of juice; discard the pulp. Generously rub the juice all over the duck, especially into the slashes. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the cucumber in strips, then cut it in half, scoops out the seeds and chops the flesh. Set aside in a bowl.

To make the tare, mix the tamari, mirin and sugar in a heavy pan and heat gently together until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced by about one-third and become syrupy.

Heat a griddle on the stove over a high heat until a few drops of water sprinkled on to the surface evaporate instantly. Sear the duck breasts, in batches if necessary, placing them skin-side down.

When the fat has been rendered, and the skin is nicely browned, remove the duck from the pan. Drain off the fat and wipe the pan clean with kitchen paper. Reheat it, return the duck, flesh-side down and cook over a medium heat for about 3 minutes.

Brush on a little of the tare, turn the duck over, brush the other side with tare and turn again. This should take about 1 minute, by which time the duck should be cooked rare; when pressed, there should be some give in the flesh. Remove from the pan and let the duck rest for a few minutes before slicing each breast across at an angle.

Warm the pancakes in a steamer for about 3 minutes. Serve with the duck, fare, spring onions and cucumber.

Serves 4
4 large duck breast fillets, total weight about 675g/ 1 ½ lb
5cm/2in piece of fresh root ginger, finely grated
½ large cucumbers
12 Chinese pancakes
6 spring onions (scallions), finely shredded
For the tare
105ml/7 tbsp tamari
105ml/7 tbsp mirin
25g/1oz/2 tbsp sugar
Salt and ground black pepper