Cous cous with duck egg and black eyed bean

 

 

 

 

 

I have only eaten salted duck egg 咸蛋， but I have not tried fresh duck egg before and I have no clue on how to prep or cook them. But the friend who generously gifted me with a few fresh organic duck egg told me that I just need to cook it like how I cook chicken egg. After reading more about it, I realized duck egg are not much different from chicken egg in terms of their nutrition, but with the exception that duck eggs are larger in size, they also have larger proportion of yolk, and thus duck eggs have more protein and are richer than chicken eggs, with higher fat content and more cholesterol. When boiled, the white turns bluish and the yolk turns red-orange. Duck egg has thicker shell and thus keeps longer than chicken egg, about 6-8 weeks if refrigerated. With no exception, I would use it to prepare some healthy and nutritious meals for my little boy, cos he would need all these good proteins and good fats. According to my aunt, some of the sellers use duck egg to make kaya. Ah.. I guess I know why! Because duck egg has more yolk and is richer in terms of its flavor, so the kaya would definitely turns out tasting great and creamy!

 

I have paired up this dish with some black eyed beans which I've previously cooked in big batch and kept some frozen for use at occasions like this, where I need a quick dinner for the little fella. Read here if you want to find out more about black eyed beans. I don't add any flavoring like salt or pepper to this, cos eventually, it'll be nicely seasoned with finely grated Cheddar cheese.

 

Cous cous is something that's very simple and quick to prepare. I personally am a huge fan of cous cous. I eat it paired with raw lettuce, fresh tomatoes, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, cucumber, hard-boiled egg, dressed with a delicious Caesar dressing. The great thing about it, it's very high in fiber, the reason why I ate loads of it when I was pregnant. Check out the following instruction, it's super fast to prepare, it only needs no more than 10min.

 

To prepare a basic cous cous, you'll need:

• 1cup cous cous
• 1 1/4 cup water or stock
• 1tbsp olive oil

In a shallow pan, boil up the water or stock. Spread the cous cous thinly in another heat-proof container or dish. Pour in the boiling water or stock. Cover with a lid. Let stand for about 5-10min. After 10min, fluff with a folk and season with olive oil.

 

In my case, I actually had additional ingredients in my cous cous:

• 1clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 2tbsp cooked black eyed beans
• 1 hard-boiled duck egg, shelled and chopped
• 1-2tbsp finely grated Cheddar
• 1cup raw cous cous
• 1 1/4 cup water or stock
• 1tbsp olive oil

1. In a frying pan, heat up a tablespoon of cooking oil. Fry the garlic and onion till fragrant.
2. Stir in the cooked black eyed beans and heat them through. Pour in water or stock. Simmer for about 5min.
3. Pour the water or stock mixture to a oven-proof casserole where the cous cous is.
4. Cover with a lid.
5. Let stand for about 5-10min. Fluff with a folk and season with olive oil.
6. Mix in the chopped duck egg.
7. Top with grated Cheddar.
8. Place the casserole dish under a hot grill / oven to melt the cheese.