from The East Coast Celebrations Cookbook
Duck is a favourite dish for many people all year long, but oddly it seems to be designated as a restaurant meat and not something to be tried at home. Perhaps it’s the idea of all that fat – that delicious, awesome, wonderful fat. But honestly, this is really a simple thing to do if you want a break from turkey for a year. In honour of that dinner scene from A Christmas Story, I’ve done as basic a recipe as you can get for a duck, using a rub of Chinese 5 spice and some other Asian aromatics in a simple glaze. Follow the steps for drying the skin properly and you will be rewarded with crispy skin, moist meat, and some rich and wonderful flavours this Christmas.
Ingredients
5 to 6 lb (2.5 to 3 kg) whole duck
1 Tbsp (15 mL) Chinese 5 spice powder
1 clementine or small orange, quartered
2-inch (5 cm) piece of ginger, sliced into 3 chunks
1 shallot, peeled and halved
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ cup (125 mL) honey
¼ cup (60 mL) soy sauce
2 Tbsp (30 mL) rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp (15 mL) garlic-ginger paste (or 11 finely chopped or microplaned garlic and ginger)
2 star anise pods
1 tsp (5 mL) sesame oil
Directions
Rinse the fully thawed duck under cold running water and pat dry with clean paper towels. Place in the refrigerator overnight, uncovered to allow the skin to dry out completely.
The next day, preheat the oven to 300F (160C). Using a sharp knife, gently score the fat of the duck. Be careful not to pierce the meat beneath. Make a cross-hatch pattern by turning the duck 90 degrees and repeating the scoring action. Rub the Chinese 5 spices over all sides of the skin and under the wings and legs.
Place the clementine segments, ginger slices and shallot halves inside the cavity of the duck. Place on a raised roasting rack and roast for 2 ½ hours or until the skin is crispy and the meat has reached an internal temperature of 160F (70C).
Meanwhile, combine the honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic-ginger paste, star anise and sesame oil in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce slightly until it looks thickened and syrupy. Set aside.
After 2 ½ hours, remove the duck from the oven. Carefully lift the duck from the roasting tray using the handles of the rack. Pour off the rendered duck fat from the bottom of the pan, keeping it for future use in other recipes. Place the duck back in the roasting pan.
Increase the temperature in the oven to 400F (200C). Brush the duck with some of the glaze and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and brush again repeating the glaze process 5 times over 30 minutes. Once all the glaze has been applied, remove from the oven and rest the duck for 20 to 30 minutes before carving and serving.
Serves 6
Nada’s Tips & Tricks: You can also use this recipe with goose. Both can be purchased from butchers (some supermarkets carry them over the holiday season) …you may need to order the meat in advance.
Contents and images used with permission by Formac Publishing. https://formac.ca/product/the-east-coast-celebrations-cookbook/