Crispy Roast Duck

Whenever I have a craving for duck, I would drive to Chinatown and bring home a roast duck. They are the ones that you see hanging in the shop window. I love to eat it while it is still warm as the skin is crispy and the meat is succulent and delicious. It is great serve over rice or noodles. For years, I am intimidated by the thought of roasting a duck as someone told me that it takes hours of skillful preparation and roasting. Well, I figured it is worth giving it a try. You can buy frozen duck in the freezer compartment in most supermarket, or pre-order a fresh one in some Chinese supermarket.

 

frozen duck

 

gently score skin surface

after an hour of roasting

poke skin all over

follow steps to roasting and final glaze

Ingredients:
1 whole duck (4-5 lbs)
Glaze:
½ cup honey
¼ cup orange juce
2 tsp. plum sauce
1 tsp. orange flavored water
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Wash duck and remove giblets and fat, remove and quills by pulling it out with a tweezer. Pat dry with paper towel. Use a knife and gently score the surface of the skin by slicing through the skin and fat (this process remove excess fat when cooking). Rub inside and outside with salt and truss with cooking twine.
2. Place breast side-up in a baking rack and roast for an hour. Pull out, poke skin all over and roast further for another hour breast-side down.
3. Repeat Step 2 and turn duck each time reversing positions (breast-side up or down) for the next hour of roasting.
4. Mix the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Season to taste. (This recipe makes a substantial amount, but you can vary the quantities according to your needs)
3. At the final 3rd hour, increase heat to 400°F. Turn duck breast-side up brush duck with glaze and roast further for another 10 minutes until duck has a nice mahogany color and golden. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the duck until the temperature is 165°F. Remove and cool duck completely before carving. 5. Drain pan drippings and strain into remaining glaze. Reheat and thicken slightly with some cornstarch and serve with duck on the side.
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Cassoulet

I had this wonderful dish on my birthday and it was simply divine! Cassoulet is a classic French dish originated from the south of France. It is a hearty stew or casserole of various types of meats and beans slowly cooked with a crust on top. You can easily use other meats, such as pork, turkey or goose as an alternative.
Ingredients:
3 cups dried pinto beans, soaked overnight
1 lb salted pork, soaked overnight
3 duck breasts, turkey or pork (quartered)
1 fennel, cut in small chunks
2 medium sized onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
½ tsp. ground cloves
3 Tbsps. tomato paste
6 sausages (low sodium), cut into pieces
5 tomatoes, skin removed, and quartered
½ cup dried bread crumbs
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley
sea salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Drain the beans and put into a large saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a fast boil for about 15 minutes. Remove beans from heat, drain and set aside. Cut salted pork and remove the rind and excess fat.
2. Heat some oil in a frying pan and browned salted pork. In a large saucepan, add beans, onions, garlic, bay leaves, ground cloves, and tomato paste. Add in salted pork and enough water to cover the beans and meat. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer for about 1 hour, or until beans are tender.

3. In the same pan, heat some oil and brown the meat and sausages until browned. Remove and set aside. Reheat frying pan and add in bread crumbs and cook until pale golden brown. Remove from heat and stir in chopped parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside for later.
7. Add the bean mixture to a large casserole or ovenproof dish. Arrange the meat, sausages, fennel, and tomatoes evenly with the bean mixture. Season to taste with pepper and salt. Sprinkle the browned bread crumbs on top and bake in the center of the oven, uncovered for about an hour. Remove bay leaf before serving.
Printable Recipe

Steamed Spiced Duck

A dear friend of mine shared this recipe with me. It's perfect for an appetizer or a "cold platter" in Chinese.

Ingredients:

1 duck (3-4 lbs)

3 Tbsp. salt

1 Tbsp. Szechuan peppercorns

2 star anise

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 slices ginger root, sliced thinly

2 stalks spring onion, sliced thinly

2 pieces of Chinese bacon

1½ cups Chinese cooking wine

Steamer (can be purchased in Chinese grocery store)

1 cheese cloth bag(big enough for duck)

Plum sauce

Method:
1. Clean duck, remove giblets and neck. Poke holes in duck meat. Wipe dry and leave aside. In a clean pan without oil, fry salt, peppercorns, star anise, ginger root and spring onions till fragrant. Grind or pound mixture finely.
2. Rub this spiced mixture inside and outside of duck thoroughly. Place duck in a pan and cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate overnight.
3. Remove plastic wrap from duck, rinse duck in cold water to remove seasoning spices. Drip dry, place duck in the cheescloth and secure tightly.
4. Place duck a deep dish, add half of the cooking wine to duck. Put water in the bottom layer of steamer and bring to boil, then place duck in the top tray, cover and steam for an hour.
5. Remove the duck, pour any juice to a bowl for later use. Replace the duck to the dish and add remaining wine, with bacon slices on the top of duck. Return duck to the steamer. Check to see if water is needed in the bottom tray. If water is low, add warm water. Steam duck for another hour.
6. Remove bacon and cheesecloth from duck when cool, and refrigerate duck an hour or two before serving. To serve, debone duck and slice meat thinly and serve with plum sauce. Separate excess oil from juice, heat slightly and serve over duck if desired. For added color, serve with pickled seaweeds.
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