Spicy Lacquered Duck Recipes

PULLED DUCK WITH PLUM SRIRACHA SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 150C/300F. Take a large roasting tin and place a wire rack inside.
• Pat the duck down with some kitchen paper to ensure the skin is dry.
• Score the skin of the duck in a criss-cross pattern (breast side) with a sharp knife. Be sure not to pierce the flesh.
• Place the duck - breast side up - on the rack in the roasting tin.
• Season with salt and pepper, and place in the oven for 3 hours 30 minutes. Turn the duck over every hour (I use a clean kitchen towel in each hand to turn the duck over).
• Whilst the duck is in the oven, make the plum sriracha sauce.
• Heat the oil in a medium sized sauce pan.
• Add the onion and cook on low-medium for 5 mins - until the onion is soft. Give it a stir every minute or so.
• Add in the ginger and garlic and cook for a further minute.
• Add in the rest of the ingredients, turn up the heat and bring to a gentle bubble. Turn the heat back down to medium and allow everything to bubble gently for 20 minutes. Give it a stir every so often.
• After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and blend the mixture in the pan using a hand blender. I like to give it just a few pulses so the sauce still has some texture. Leave to one side.
• After the duck has cooked for 3 hours 50 minutes, take it out of the oven and turn the oven temperature up to 190C/375F.
• Turn the duck so that it's breast-side-up again and brush 2 tbsps of the plum sriracha sauce all over the top of the duck (including the legs).
• Place back in the oven for 10 minutes until the glaze has gone dark brown and caramelised.
• Take the duck out of the oven. Leave to rest for 10 minutes, then place on a large plate and shred all the meat using two forks.
• Serve immediately with some of the plum sriracha sauce. I also like to serve it will some rice and greens.

FRENCH HONEY-LACQUERED DUCK BREAST

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Cut small slits in the skin side of the duck breast. The slits should be shallow without slicing all the way through into the flesh.
• Season the duck e both sides with the salt and pepper
• Sear the duck breasts, skin side down for 3 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and flip the duck breasts over, cooking them for an additional 4 to 5 minutes.
• Transfer them to a plate and cover them with foil so they retain their warmth.
• Pour off the rendered duck fat and turn the heat up to medium.
• Deglaze the skillet with the honey and balsamic vinegar , scraping up the browned bits as the sauce cooks.
• Simmer the honey vinegar glaze for 2 to 3 minutes until it turns slightly thick. Season with just a dash of salt.
• Return the duck breasts to the pan, turning them a few times to coat them evenly with the honey glaze.
• Carve and serve them immediately, garnished with a drizzle of extra glaze and the chopped nuts if desired.

SPICY LACQUERED DUCK

Steps:

• Combine first 9 ingredients in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Place duck in jumbo resealable plastic bag. Pour in soy mixture. Seal bag; turn to coat duck. Refrigerate 2 days, turning occasionally.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Drain duck well; discard marinade. Arrange duck, breast side up, on rack set on rimmed baking sheet. Pat duck dry inside and out with paper towels. Roast duck 45 minutes. Turn duck over. Roast until tender and glazed deep brown, about 15 minutes longer. Insert long wooden spoon into main cavity of duck and tilt, allowing juices to drain onto baking sheet. Transfer duck to platter. Let rest 15 minutes before serving.

PEKING DUCK WITH HONEY AND FIVE-SPICE GLAZE

Steps:

• Combine honey, soy sauce, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.
• In a large saucepan, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Meanwhile, remove giblets and neck from duck cavity and discard (or reserve for another use). Cut off excess fat from cavity and neck area, then cut off tail. (This helps balance the duck vertically over the beer can.)
• Using your fingers, carefully separate the skin from the breast meat through the bottom of the breasts and work your fingers upward to separate the skin from the meat (be careful not to tear skin). Next, separate the skin from the backbone through the neck and working your way down until you reach the legs. (Scissors are helpful, but be careful to avoid piercing the skin.) Transfer duck to a rack set in the sink.
• Using a ladle or measuring cup, pour half of the boiling water evenly over top of the duck. Flip duck and pour the remaining water evenly all over second side. Tilt duck to drain all water from the cavity, then pat dry with paper towels.
• In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder with 1 teaspoon salt, the black pepper and 1 tablespoon of the glaze. Rub the mixture inside the cavity. Stand duck vertically by inserting beer can into cavity and place in a roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining glaze all over the duck and sprinkle evenly with remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Place duck in the refrigerator, uncovered, until the skin feels dry and leathery, 24 hours.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees with rack in bottom third of oven. Remove duck from refrigerator, and add 1 1/2 cups water to the pan. Wrap wing tips and tips of drumsticks with foil to prevent burning, then loosely tent duck with foil. Roast for 15 minutes. Decrease temperature to 350 degrees and roast, tented with foil, until skin is mahogany and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes more, adding more water to the pan if needed.
• Leaving duck on the can, transfer duck vertically to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes. Carve the crispy skin from the back and legs of the duck, and slice into strips.
• Carefully remove duck from the beer can and return to cutting board. Carve off the breasts and legs; thinly slice the breasts and shred dark meat.
• Carefully strain pan juices into a small bowl and pour off all the fat. In another small bowl, whisk together the hoisin, sesame oil and up to 1/4 cup of the pan juices to form sauce.
• To serve, spread 1 tablespoon prepared sauce on each tortilla. Top each with some scallions, cucumbers, duck meat and crispy skin. Roll up and enjoy warm.

HONEY-LACQUERED DUCK WITH SOUR CHERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Put 10-12 sage leaves into a small saucepan with 1 cup of water and bring to the boil; simmer for 7 minutes and remove from heat; remove leaves and allow to cool.
• Wash the duck out and pat dry with paper towels; season generously with salt and put on a plate in the refrigerator to air-dry for 1 hour (2 hours is even better ;-) ).
• In a small saucepan, combine sage infusion, honey, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce and bring to the boil; boil at medium-high heat for 7-8 minutes until mixture becomes slightly syrupy and is reduced to 2/3 of a cup; pour 1/3 cup+ 1 tblsp into measuring cup and keep remainder in saucepan.
• Preheat oven to 415F°.
• Put duck in roasting pan, breast-side-down and roast for ½ an hour (drain fat off, retain); turn duck breast-side-up and roast ½ an hour longer (drain fat off again, retain); brush duck with the honey glaze and continue roasting 15 minutes; after the 15 minutes, turn duck so that it is breast-side-down again and brush with more honey glaze, do this once more after 15 minutes then turn duck breast-side-up again, brush with glaze and roast for a final 15 minutes; in all, the duck will have roasted a total of 2 hours and have had 4 glazings, 1 up, 2 down, and the last one up again; remove roaster from oven and allow duck to stand for 10 minutes while you finish the sauce.
• Pour off the fat you have retained into a small container (duck fat is great for frying potatoes!) and pour any accumulated duck juices into the saucepan containing the remaining honey glaze; add the cherries and any accumulated cherry juices as well as the cinnamon and bring to a boil; boil for 7-8 minutes, or until cherry sauce has become slightly-thickened and syrupy (if you want your sauce slightly thicker, you can sprinkle 1/2-3/4 tsp of cornstarch over cherries).
• Carve duck (in our case, this just means quartering the duck), and serve with the sour cherry sauce.
• Note: I have a special double-lined roaster, with one inclined tray with a hole in it fitting over a classic pan, this allows the fat to drain off the roasting meat, drip through the hole, and gather in the pan underneath; if you do not own this type of pan, use a classic roaster but drain fat off roasting duck more often.

FIVE-SPICE DUCK BREAST WITH BLACKBERRIES

Steps:

• Trim duck breasts as necessary, removing extraneous fat or gristle. Score the skin side of the breast diagonally with a sharp knife.
• Season both sides of the duck breasts with salt, then sprinkle both sides evenly with five-spice powder. Mix together ginger and garlic and use it to slather the breasts. Cover and let marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature. (Alternatively, wrap and refrigerate for several hours, or even overnight; bring back to room temperature before cooking.)
• Place a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. When pan is hot, lay duck breast in it skin-side down. Let sizzle gently for 7 minutes, until skin is crisp and golden, adjusting heat as necessary to keep from getting too dark too quickly. Turn breast over and cook 3 to 5 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer should register 125 degrees for medium rare. Remove from pan and let rest for 10 minutes on a warm plate. Drain fat from pan (reserve for another use if you wish).
• Make the sauce: Over medium heat, add shallots to same pan and cook until softened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add sherry vinegar, brown sugar and half the blackberries, stirring until sugar is dissolved and berries have released their juice. Add chicken broth, raise heat and simmer rapidly until liquid is reduced by half and a bit syrupy. Strain the contents of the skillet into a small saucepan and keep warm.
• To serve, slice duck breast thinly across the grain on a diagonal and arrange on a platter. Spoon the sauce over the meat and garnish with the rest of the blackberries.

LACQUERED DUCK WITH GRILLED FIGS

Steps:

• Put all the syrup ingredients in a small, heavy-based saucepan. Add 6 tbsp water, season lightly with salt and pepper and simmer over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes until the syrup has reduced by just over half and is very sticky. Remove from the heat.
• Put the duck breasts skin side down in a cold frying pan (it's unusual to start frying in a cold pan, but with duck this is often a good idea - it makes the fat render slowly from under the skin, keeping the flesh really moist). Fry slowly for about 15 minutes until the skin is golden. At least 100ml/31⁄2fl oz fat will be rendered from the skin. (Once cool, keep the fat in the fridge - it's great for roasting potatoes.)
• Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Sit the duck breasts skin side up on a rack in a roasting tin. Spoon a little of the syrup on top and leave for 2-3 minutes until sticky. Tip any syrup that drips into the bottom of the roasting tin back into the syrup in the saucepan, and reheat to liquefy if necessary. Repeat this technique - spooning the syrup over the duck and leaving it to stand - until there are three or four layers and you have used up most of the syrup. If it gets too thick, just add 1-2 tbsp water. Conversely, if it's too thin, add another 1 tbsp sugar. Arrange the orange slices round the duck and spoon the last splash of syrup over the top.
• Roast the duck for 8-12 minutes until done to your liking. Meanwhile, cut the figs in half lengthways, tip into a bowl and toss with the olive oil and plenty of seasoning. Heat a ridged cast-iron griddle pan (or a heavy frying pan) on the hob until very hot, then chargrill the figs for 2 minutes on each side.
• Once the duck is cooked, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 3 minutes, then cut each breast at an angle into two or three slices. Transfer to four serving plates with the orange slices and figs, and garnish with extra bay leaves and the star anise from the syrup.