Peanut Mock Duck and Thai Pineapple Rice

I was at a Chinese supermarket the other weekend and finally came across tinned mock duck. I've only ever found it once before and was too scared to try it because fake meat in a tin just feels a little strange to me. I got the courage to try it this time, and made a lovely peanut sauce for it.

Peanut Mock Duck

• 1/2 to 1 tin of mock duck, thinly sliced
• 3-4 large spring onions, sliced thinly or 1 shallot chopped finely
• oil
  
• 1/2 cup of vegetable stock
• 4 tbsp peanut butter
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1-2 tbsp agave nectar
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 tbsp minced or grated root ginger
• Splash of lemon juice
• 1 handful of coriander, chopped (optional. I've used it for this sauce before but not with the mock duck)

1. Fry the mock duck and spring onions togther in a little bit of oil until the onions are soft and the duck has been browned a little bit.
2. While that is cooking, in a jug, stir together the stock, peanut butter, soy sauce, agave, garlic, cayenne, ginger and lemon juice.
3. When the duck and onions are ready, add the sauce and heat through until thick. If the sauce gets too thick just add a little bit more water, if it's too runny stir in some peanut butter.
4. Serve with noodles or rice
   

Simple as that! This sauce is also great just stirred into noodles too.

The mock duck was quite good, not sure it was good enough for me to get again. £1 for tinned meat seems a bit expensive to me, especially as I can just sub it for mushrooms or another vegetable instead. I definitely would say to slice it finely, I got a few big chunks and didn't enjoy that so much. I'd also consider using less than the whole tin for this recipe, it seemed a bit much, which is why I've put 1/2 to 1 tin in the ingredients list.

Thai Pineapple Rice

• 2 cups rice
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped (or red onions, they give it a nice colour)
• 2 red chili's, roughly chopped
• 1 handful of coriander
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1-2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tin of crushed pineapple (or you could use fresh, I get tinned for convenience)
• Oil

1. Cook rice according to the instructions
2. While the rice is cooking, chuck the onion, chili and coriander into a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Or finely chop these ingredients yourself, either way works.
3. In a wok or large pan, heat the oil and saute the garlic for 1 minute before adding the onion mixture and crushed pineapple.
4. Drain the rice and stir into the pineapple mixture before serving

This is a super easy dish and one of my favourites. I usually just have a bowl of it on its own!