I have the Wagamama cookbook, and ages ago I wanted to make the Shichimi Duck Ramen recipe. But I couldn’t find shichimi anywhere; the staff at my local Asian market had no idea what I was talking about, which seemed really strange to me. I could have ordered it, but I kind of wanted to make the dish immediately. When you are presented with the possibility of duck ramen for dinner, it is incredibly difficult to wait.

I was also faced with the dilemma of the broth. After introducing Adam to the joys of this ramen recipe and all its variations, he really now prefers his ramen dishes to be like a bowl of pasta instead of a soup. So, I kind of improvised a lot from the original recipe and basically made a duck version of our favorite ramen.

The Wagamama recipe is here if you want the full, glorious brothy experience. I only followed the recipe for the cooking of the duck; the noodle prep was exactly like the pork ramen recipe linked above (but with vegetable broth). Since I couldn’t find shichimi I used a whole lot of black pepper, toasted sesame seeds, and a chili seasoning I picked up from the Asian market instead. I’m calling this Duct Tape Duck Ramen since I cobbled together two recipes to improvise something yummy.

To cook the duck:
2 boneless duck breasts (skin on)
2 tsp shichimi* (if you can get it, or substitute your favorite chili, peppery Asian seasoning)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Prepare the duck by lightly scoring the skin.

Mix the shichimi, salt and sugar together in a shallow dish and lay the duck breasts in the marinade, skin-side down.

Put a plate on top and weigh it down with something heavy.

Place the weighted duck in the fridge and marinate for 1 hour or if possible overnight.

To cook the duck, preheat a griddle or frying pan over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes until hot and almost smoking. Cook the duck, skin-side down, for 5 minutes, then turn over and cook the other side for 3 minutes or until cooked. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes.

To serve, prep the noodles as directed here (skip the pork).

*Shichimi (or seven-spice pepper) is a grainy mixture of chilli pepper, black pepper, dried orange peel, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, slivers of nori seaweed and hemp seeds. This is the perfect seasoning for soba and udon noodle dishes. It is widely available in Oriental stores.