Description
A classic Chinese roast duck recipe featuring crispy skin and tender meat, served with traditional Chinese pancakes, spring onions, cucumber, and hoisin sauce. The duck is slow-roasted with aromatic five-spice, star anise, orange peel, and rice wine for a fragrant and flavorful dish.
Ingredients
Scale
Duck and Marinade
- 1 oven-ready duck
- 2 tsp Chinese five-spices
- 2 star anise
- 1 orange, peel cut off in strips, then orange halved
- 2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar (optional)
- 75ml Shaohsing rice wine or dry Sherry
- 100ml chicken stock
To Serve
- 30 Chinese pancakes (shop-bought or homemade)
- 6 spring onions, cut into finger lengths and shredded
- ½ cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- Hoisin sauce
Instructions
- Prepare the Oven and Duck: Heat the oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Gently loosen the skin of the duck by sliding your fingers and hand between the skin and the flesh carefully, taking care not to tear the skin. Trim any excess fat from the cavity and neck area.
- Season the Duck: Rub the duck all over with Chinese five-spice powder and generously salt the skin. Place the duck into a roasting tin. Stuff the cavity with star anise, orange peel strips, and orange halves.
- Add Liquids: Pour Chinese black vinegar (if using), Shaohsing rice wine or dry Sherry, and chicken stock into the duck cavity. It’s fine if some liquid spills out.
- First Roast: Cover the roasting tin loosely with foil to create a tent and roast the duck at low temperature for 2 hours to render the fat and cook slowly.
- Increase Oven Temperature and Crisp Skin: Remove the foil and pour off any accumulated juices (reserve them for noodle dishes if desired). Increase oven temperature to 240C/220C fan/gas 7 and roast the duck uncovered for 30-40 minutes until the skin is golden brown and crisp.
- Rest the Duck: Remove the duck from oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice off the breasts, then shred the meat and skin separately. Keep the meat warm covered with foil and skin uncovered in a low oven to maintain crispness. Remove remaining meat in chunks for other uses if desired.
- Serve: Warm the Chinese pancakes and serve with shredded duck meat and crispy skin, spring onions, cucumber sticks, and hoisin sauce for assembling traditional duck pancakes.
Notes
- Loosening the skin gently is key to achieving crispy, well-seasoned duck skin.
- Star anise and orange add subtle, aromatic flavors that complement the five-spice.
- Keeping the skin uncovered during the final resting keeps it crispy.
- The reserved cooking juices can be used to flavor noodle dishes that pair well with the duck.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: Chinese
Keywords: Chinese roast duck, duck pancakes, five-spice duck, crispy duck, Chinese cuisine, traditional duck recipe
