this broth does wonders for me
4 comments
hwoo.lee
•
March 26, 2026
Kamo means duck in japanese.
Nanban literally means “southern barbarian” in japanese. It was used to describe Portuguese/Spanish traders and their foreign culture and foods coming from the south. In today's culinary scene, nanban refers to a foreign style of cooking that uses lots of negi (green onion) sometimes with a little bit of chili. For me, whenever I see nanban, I just expect the dish to have lots of charred negi.
Soba is a japanese buckwheat noodle. Most soba noodles that are purchased from the store are cut with wheat flour, starches, or stabilizers. As expected, the Japanese obsess over soba, and the real "flex" is when a chef boasts about making a 100% only buckwheat soba noodle. I want to clarify, soba noodles that are cut with other ingredients does not equal "bad". The noodles I am using in this recipe are cut with yam, and they are from a friend who got them in Tokyo (the brand is Asahiyama, I will add the link here).
I grew up in Torrance, California, one of the largest Japanese populations outside of Japan. My love for soba was birthed at an Izakaya called Inaba (that still operates today and I highly recommend going). My love for kamo nanban began at a restaurant called Oumi Sasaya (that sadly, changed ownership and eventually closed down).
This dish is just nostalgia for me, and the clean savory broth is what soothes my soul. Even without duck breast, just the duck fat laced with green onions in the broth is all I need.
Still try this dish with regular duck breast. Ideally dry it out in the fridge for at least one night, you can salt (just the meat side) too overnight. I would then score the skin-side, slowly render the fat, and save the duck fat that renders out. This dish is still phenomenal without dry-aged duck.
I'm using the Japanese names for them all, but everything is actually very easy to find. Essentially:
Shoyu = Soy Sauce
Usukuchi Shoyu = Light Soy Sauce, has more salt than regular soy sauce, but lighter in color. You can look for "Soup Soy Sauce" at an Asian Grocer
Koikuchi Shoyu = Dark Soy Sauce, about 80% of Japanese soy sauce is Koikuchi, and it's what most of us understand as "soy sauce". I look for "Nama Shoyu" which means soy sauce that isn't pasteurized.
Mirin = Sweet Rice Wine, but don't be fooled because there are different types of mirin. Most people buy Aji-Mirin, which is actually isn't mirin, but a condiment made to taste like it. Hon-Mirin is actually true-mirin and is usually made with shochu. And just mirin is made with sake. Long story short, stop buying aji-mirin and try to buy mirin or hon-mirin.
Preheat a convection oven (with the highest fan setting) to 204 °C
I will never do it again, but I used to glaze the crown before roasting. I also like to roast the duck crown straight from the fridge. No need to wait and temper the crown.
1st Roast: Roast the Duck Crown (1) for 10min (flipping once half way through)
1st Rest: Allow the Duck Crown (1) to rest at room temp for 10min
Spice Studding: Mix together sansho peppercorns (6 g), sesame seeds (8 g), and cumin (1 g). Make sure to sift them over a sieve so there is no finely ground spices (these will burn, you need coarse spices only)
Spice Studding: At this point, I would add the spices on the duck skin. I am still experimenting on when would be the best time to add these.
2nd Roast: Roast the Duck Crown (1) for 5min
Take the internal temperature of the duck breast, it should ideally be 125-130F. If it's below, roast for a few minutes until it reaches. If it's over, let the duck rest for 10min.
Remove the duck breast off the crown. Raise the temperature of the oven to 232 °C
Right before you are ready to serve, place the duck crown into the oven to reach your desired doneness: Medium Rare is 130-135F, Medium is 135-140F, Medium Well is +140F
Slice duck at a 45 degree angle towards the inside (tenderloin side). Make sure to season in between the slices with salt (as the duck is not generally seasoned at this point)
Combine dashi (550 mL), usukuchi shoyu (35 g), koikuchi shoyu (20 g), mirin (50 g), and sake (150 g) in a small pot over a med-high heat.
Simmer over a boil for 2-3 min to cook off the alcohol.
In a sauté pan, char large green onion (1 stalk) pieces over high heat. season with a pinch of salt and a touch of duck fat.
The goal is to get a char without actually cooking the inside. This should take around 30sec
Add charred large green onion (1 stalk), beech mushrooms (25 g), and duck fat (10 g) to the soba broth. Taste and adjust seasoning if need be. Keep covered until ready to serve.
If you want to amp the sweetness of the broth, I add extra negi to the broth for it's natural onion sweetness.
Optionally, if you want to brighten the broth, you can add the tiniest amount of ginger juice
Cook soba noodles (90 g)to package instructions
I like to slightly undercook them because they will reheat in the broth
Reheat the soba tsuyu (broth) and pour over soba noodles.
Garnish with mitsuba, shiraga negi, sansho peppercorn, and citrus zest.
Optionally, you can reduce this broth even further to make it a concentrated dipping broth for soba!
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