We love duck, but it isn’t the easiest thing to prepare and have it turn out to be moist and tender.  After doing some research, we found that either simmering or steaming the duck, prior to roasting it, renders out the fat and produces a moist duck with crispy skin.  We decided to go with an Asian influenced recipe and the flavor couldn’t have been more delicious.  It took a little work, but really wasn’t too difficult and well worth the effort.  We adapted our recipe from one that we found from Tyler Florence, which called for the duck to be steamed and, based on the results, we’ll use this method every time going forward.  This recipe turned out to be extremely tasty and one that we hope that you’ll enjoy.

Ingredients

• 1 Whole Duck (5 – 5 1/2 lbs)
• 1 tbsp Chinese Five-Spice Powder
• 2 tsp Granulated Sugar
• 2 tsp Salt
• 5 Large Slices of Fresh Ginger
• 3 to 4 Garlic Cloves
• 4 Green Onions
• 1 Tangerine Peel – cut into large strips
• 1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
• 1/2 cup Honey
• 1/2 cup Soy Sauce

Instructions

Remove the giblets from the duck and cut away any excess fat from the neck and cavity area.  Wash the duck inside and out and pat completely dry inside and out with paper towels.  Combine the Chinese five-spice, sugar, and salt in a small bowl.  Rub the spices over the entire duck, inside and out.  Stuff the duck cavity with the aromatics, the ginger, garlic, green onions, and tangerine peel.  Fold the wings under the back, this will keep the tips of the wings from burning.  Tie the legs together with some kitchen string and then poke the skin of the breasts and thighs several times with a skewer or knife.  This will allow the fat to escape as it renders as well as allow the seasonings to flavor the meat below.

Place the duck onto a rack, breast side up, and into a roasting pan.  Fill the roasting pan with water until it is almost touching the bottom of the rack with the duck.  Cover tightly with foil.  Place the roasting pan over a large burner on the stove and turn the burner onto medium heat.  Once the water starts to boil (you’ll have to listen to it or peek inside the foil), turn the burner down to low and steam the duck for 45 minutes, checking occasionally to see if you need to add water.  Steaming the duck allows some of the fat to melt away and shrinks the skin.

While the duck is steaming, combine the vinegar, honey, and soy sauce in a small saucepan.  Cook the glaze on low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly, then set aside.  Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Remove the roasting pan from the burner and remove the foil.  Remove the rack with the duck from the roasting pan and pour out almost all of the liquid, leaving about an eighth of an inch of liquid in the pan.  Put the rack with the duck back into the pan and liberally brush the duck with the glaze, ensuring that the skin is well coated.  Put the roasting pan with the duck into the oven and roast for 1 hour, basting periodically with the glaze.