Roast Duck

I’ve been craving for a good roast duck for some time now. I’ve made duck couple times in the past but haven’t been very satisfied with the results, until I found this Roast Duck recipe online. This recipe is a bit time consuming but you’ll get a really flavorful and crispy skin duck. I’ve added some spices for flavor. Leftover duck (if there’s any) can be made into Thai duck curry with red sauce and coconut milk.

Roast Duck

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time:    4 hours and 30 minutes   

Ingredients:
1 whole young duckling, 5-6 lbs
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
1/8 teaspoon cloves powder
1 tablespoon soy/soya sauce
1 celery stick – cut in big chunks
1 medium onion – quartered
Kosher salt

For Sweet & Spicy Glaze
1/3 cup honey
3 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon light soy/soya sauce
1 1/2 Tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce (adjust to taste)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Prepare the duck by removing all the innards from the cavity. Cut off the tail and any excess skin and discard. Rinse the duck inside and out and pat dry with paper towels.  Using a sharp knife, score diamond pattern onto the duck’s breast area, slicing through the skin and fat. Cut on an angle without cutting into the meat.  Pull out quills if any. Poke the duck all over with a sharp knife without going through the meat. 
3. In a bowl, mix spice powders, cinnamon, ginger, white pepper and cloves. Sprinkle half of this inside the duck’s cavity. Add soy/soya sauce to the remaining spice mixture, mix well and rub all over the outside of the duck. 
4. Stuff the duck with celery and onion, tie the legs and fold the wings under. Place the duck breast side up in a roasting pan mounted with rack, sprinkle some salt and roast for 1 hour.
5. After first hour, poke the skin all over with a sharp knife, flip over so it is breast side down and roast in oven for 1 hour.
6. After second hour, repeat the process, poke and turn the duck breast side up and roast for 1 more hour.
7. After third hour, poke and turn the duck breast side down and roast for 1 more hour.
8. While the duck is roasting for its last hour, make the glaze. In a medium size saucepan, combine all of the glaze ingredients and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Whisk continuously for few minutes until it gets syrupy and coats the back of the spoon. Set this aside.
9. After the fourth hour, remove the duck from the oven, and increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F.  Flip the duck over so that it is breast side up. Once the oven temperature reaches 400 degrees F, put the duck back in and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.  At this point, the skin should be golden brown and crisp.
10. Remove from oven and brush on with glaze all over. Put back in the oven and bake for another 5 to 7 minutes, keeping a close eye on it as it can burn easily at this point.  Let it rest, out of oven for 10 minutes before carving.

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