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Recipe: Roast Duck
By estar | December 15, 2008
Inspired by my roast duck experience in London (London: Ducks Under the London Bridge) and the roast goose in Hong Kong, Daniel and I decided to buy a whole duck and try to recreate the dish in our humble oven. “It can’t be much more difficult than roasting a chicken right?” we thought. We couldn’t be more wrong.
To begin with, a duck has more fat than a chicken. A lot more. This means a greasy result is guaranteed if the duck is not prepared properly. Duck also has an inherent gaminess, which can be a turn-off. With the aid of cookery books, magazines and extensive online research, we decided to bite the bullet and go ahead with the most recommended methods of preparing the duck. The results weren’t too bad, even if I do say so myself!
Roast Duck
1 whole duck
Salt
Sugar
Cracked black pepper
Paprika (You can also use whatever herbs you fancy – thyme, five-spice)
Directions
1. Add 1/4 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of white sugar to a large pot of boiling water.
2. When the water comes back to a boil, lower the duck into the pot and let boil for 8-10min. You will notice some of the fat melt away from the duck into the water.
3. Remove the duck and let cool on a wire rack. This should take about 30-45min. While cooling, the oil will surface through the pores of the skin. When the duck has cooled completely, pat dry with paper towels.
4. Using a skewer, gently prick the duck skin all over at close intervals (maybe 1 cm apart), being careful not to pierce the meat. This allows the fat to drain from the duck while cooking. The duck can be refrigerated after this step for a few hours if you are not roasting it immediately. Bring to room temperature before proceeding with the next step.
5. When ready to cook, pat dry the duck again with paper towels. Preheat the oven to 190ºC.
6. Season the duck generously with salt, cracked black pepper and paprika.
7. Place the duck breast-side down on a wire rack over a baking pan to collect the duck fat. After half an hour of roasting, turn the duck over. Repeat twice for a total cooking time of 1 1/2 hours. Don’t worry if your oven gets a little (ok, a lot) smoky during the roasting period.
8. Allow the duck to cool for at least 20min before carving.
Make sure you keep the drippings from the duck! Sieve out the solids and what remains is flavourful duck fat that can be used for roasted potatoes or tossed through with pasta. Keep jarred in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.
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