Korean Pumpkin Duck

Korean Style Pumpkin Duck

When most people think of Korean food they think of Kimchi/Bulgogi/Bibimbap/Dog etc. As far as food is concerned Korean culture couldn't be more different than American. Most Americans I've met here, either English teachers or military tend to have a strong opinion on Korean food, either Love or Hate. Personally I LOVE it, granted the occasional unrecognizable side dish still worries, oh and that one time I ate the live squid wasn't the most pleasant..... none the less gimme some kimchi and a bowl of 5 grain rice and I'll be happy as a clam! 

Despite which side of the Korean food love spectrum one may fall on there is one lesser known dish that I'm fairly confident most anyone from any walk of life would enjoy... Pumpkin Duck.

Acorn Squash, stuffed with roasted duck and headed in to the oven

It's Duck, stuffed in a "pumpkin" (it's really an acorn squash). After trying it for the first time at a restaurant I spent hours googling how to make it. I firmly believe that Google knows so much that it knows more about me than I do about myself (creepy) but I could find no information on how to make this dish. I even found a few question forums with English teachers asking for translated recipes so they could try to recreate the dish in America. However, no recipe could be found.

Even this could not stop me, I had to succeed in my quest to continue having pumpkin duck in my life. So I popped on over to Korea's most popular search engine, Naver, and used my elementary level Korean knowledge to find a recipe. By my estimation I understood about 60% of the recipe which I deemed "mehh good enough" and dove right into what would soon be 6 hours of head scratching and mass confusion. Luckily the second time I made it it was MUCH faster and easier. So go ahead and give it a try!

Stuffed to the very top with tasty tasty duck

Korean Pumpkin Duck

Ingredients:

1 large Acorn Squash
1/4 C water
2 lbs of Roast Duck (this is an estimate, amount varies based on size of squash)

Step 1:
     Cut an opening at the top of the squash as if you were carving a pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and set aside to make Kickin' Pumpkin Seeds later.

Step 2:
     Place Squash into a large microwave safe bow and pour 1/4 Cup of water into the squash. Microwave on high for 15 minutes. This will save you about an hour compared to cooking it entirely in the oven, you're welcome.

Step 3:
     Carefully remove the squash and dump out the excess water.

Step 4:
     Chop the fully cooked Roast duck into bite sized pieces. Need a stellar and super simple recipe for roast duck? Check my post Super Easy Way to Roast a Duck

Step 5:
     Stuff the duck pieces into the Acorn Squash and wrap it in foil.

Step 6:
     Place the Pumpkin Duck into a shallow backing dish and bake at 400F for 45 minutes.

Step 7:
    Slice open and enjoy!

Make sure to scoop out all the strings before cooking if they bother you; we gobbled them right up!