Duck noodle soup is a simple, yet extremely flavorful dish you can make with very little time. It’s also a great way to use up leftover Cantonese roast duck.
For a quick meal, keep leftover roast duck in your freezer, so you can whip up this soup whenever you need it!
A Go-To Woks Family Recipe
My mom has been making this duck noodle soup for decades. It’s a great way to use up leftover Cantonese roast duck from your local restaurant, roast meat shop, or Chinese grocery. Often, we’ll buy an extra half a roast duck to keep in the freezer, just to make this noodle soup as a quick and easy meal.
To give you an idea of just how simple and easy this recipe is, when my parents are RV-ing across the country, my mom can’t leave NJ without a roast duck in the freezer for quick meals on the road.
Imagine my parents parked in a campground somewhere in Wyoming, sitting in their camp chairs with steaming bowls of duck noodle soup, and you get an idea of what a Leung family road trip looks like!
The most shocking aspect of this recipe is just how much flavor you can extract from roast duck, to make a delicious soup stock in just 20 minutes—with WATER. It doesn’t sound like it should be possible, but all the fat and roasted flavor in the duck seeps out into the boiling broth to make a soup that tastes like it took hours, not minutes, to make.
We pair it with sweet, tender napa cabbage, which has always been a match made in heaven with duck soup.
A Word on Noodles
Almost any noodle will work in this recipe. You can use regular white Chinese wheat noodles, which is what we used here, but there are a plethora of options:
- Chinese wheat noodles (used here—any thickness will work, but we prefer a somewhat thinner noodle)
- Wonton noodles – these are very thin, yellow alkaline noodles, which are meant to be used in wonton noodle soup. These Cantonese noodle soups often also feature roast meats like duck or char siu (BBQ pork)
- Buckwheat noodles (soba) – gluten-free and a healthier option than white noodles
- Rice noodles – use rice noodles of any thickness. Ho fun, or wide rice noodles, would be delicious, but thinner pho-style noodles or mixian, which are spaghetti-like rice noodles, work great too.
- Mung bean vermicelli noodles (粉丝 – fun see in Cantonese or fěnsī in Mandarin) – these are thin glass noodles—also a great gluten-free option
You can find many of these noodle types in any grocery store these days (just head to whatever amalgamated “ethnic” section your store has).
If you’re unable to get to the store, or your store doesn’t have an ethnic section, you can also make your own noodles with just flour and water using our Chinese handmade noodle recipe, or our Chinese egg noodle recipe.
Overwhelmed by all the choice in the noodle aisle of the Asian market? Head to the Noodles section of our Chinese Ingredients Glossary.
A Word on Duck
The ease of this recipe does hinge on you having a go-to source for roast duck. You can find it in Cantonese restaurants, as well as certain Chinese markets that have a hot bar, or that sell store-made BBQ meats.
If you don’t have such a source, you can make your own incredible Cantonese Roast Duck using my dad’s recipe! It took him months—years?—to develop it, and we’d put it up there with any restaurant’s roast duck.
It’s a project, but the flavor is CRAZY. Just make sure you buy a very meaty, plump duck to make it worth the effort! You may not have any left over to make this soup, but that’s okay with us. Enjoy it fresh!
That said, if you carve the meat off the bone, the carcass—or any bony pieces that folks tend to pick around—will make an incredible soup, which you can use to make this bowl of noodles. Likewise, if you order Peking duck from a restaurant, you can ask for the carcass to take home. Use it to make duck stock for noodles!
Recipe Variations
If you’d rather skip the noodles, you can also make this as a duck soup with just duck and napa cabbage.
Either way, you get a nice and simple Chinese duck soup to serve on the side of any meal.
I’m roasting some of the duck pieces to keep them succulent and juicy, but you can also just add all the duck to the soup, which is what my mom usually does. This makes the soup stock more flavorful.
Chicken bouillon paste or soy sauce are optional, but more necessary if you set aside some of the duck for topping, as there is less duck flavoring the soup. The more duck you put in the soup itself, the more flavorful it will be in less time!
If your duck is frozen or older, you might want to add all of it to the soup. The meat may not be as juicy as it used to be, so it’s better served flavoring the broth.
Okay, let’s make it!
Duck Noodle Soup Recipe Instructions
Set aside about 4-6 of your meatiest pieces of roast duck for topping the soup, and add the remaining duck to a medium pot along with the water and chicken bouillon paste (or soy sauce), if using.
Alternatively, add all of the duck to the soup, and forgo the bouillon paste/soy sauce. This is the best course of action if your duck is frozen.
Bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the napa cabbage. Trim the ends off the leaves, cut them in half lengthwise, and then cut them cross-wise into 3/4-inch thick strips. Bring a pot of water to a boil for the noodles.
If you set aside meaty pieces of duck, put them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Reheat in the oven at 325°F for 8-10 minutes, and then keep warm in the oven.
Once the soup has simmered for 20 minutes, add the napa cabbage, salt, sesame oil, and white pepper.
Increase the heat to bring the soup to a simmer again, and then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes, until the napa is tender.
Boil the noodles according to package instructions.
Divide the noodles between 2 bowls.
Add the soup with the boiled duck pieces and the napa to each bowl (top with the meaty roast duck pieces on top if you reheated them in the oven). Garnish with cilantro (if using). Serve your duck noodle soup, and enjoy!
Chinese Duck Noodle Soup (Easy!)
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Cantonese roast duck (on the bone)
- 4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon paste (or 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, optional)
- 8 ounces napa cabbage (about 8 oz./225g = about 4 large leaves)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt (alternatively, 1/2 tsp salt plus 1/4 tsp MSG)
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 8 ounces fresh noodles (or 4 ounces/110g dried)
- 2 tablespoons cilantro (chopped)
Instructions
- Set aside about 4-6 of your meatiest pieces of roast duck for topping the soup, and add the remaining duck to a medium pot along with the water and chicken bouillon paste. (Alternatively, add all of the duck to the soup, and forgo the bouillon paste. This is the best course of action if your duck is frozen). Bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the napa cabbage. Trim the ends off the leaves, cut them in half lengthwise, and then cut them cross-wise into 3/4-inch thick strips. Bring a pot of water to a boil for the noodles.
- If you set aside meaty pieces of duck, put them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Reheat in the oven at 325°F for 8-10 minutes, and then keep warm in the oven.
- Once the soup has simmered for 20 minutes, add the napa cabbage, salt, sesame oil, and white pepper. Increase the heat to bring the soup to a simmer again, and then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes, until the napa is tender. Boil the noodles according to package instructions.
- Divide the noodles between 2 bowls. Add the soup with the boiled duck pieces and the napa to each bowl (top with the meaty roast duck pieces on top if you reheated them in the oven). Garnish with cilantro (if using), and serve!
