Five Spice Roasted Duck Food

FIVE-SPICE DUCK

Steps:

• To make the five-spice rub, put the fennel, cinnamon, star anise, Szechwan peppercorns (or cardamom), cloves, and chipotle pepper in a small pan over medium heat and toast for a few minutes until aromatic, shaking the pan. Let cool, then grind the toasted spices in a spice mill or clean coffee grinder. Transfer the ground spices to a bowl. Add the ginger, garlic, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine well.
• Pat spice rub generously all over the skin of the ducks, place them on a rack over a roasting pan, and refrigerate them, uncovered, for at least 2 hours, or, preferably overnight.
• Preheat a grill.
• When you are ready to cook the ducks, place them on a rotisserie over a grill with a drip pan set directly under the ducks. Keep the fire fairly low to avoid flare ups. Cook the ducks until the juices run clear and an instant read thermometer inserted into the thigh reads 175 degrees F, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Remove the ducks from the rotisserie and carve them into breast and leg-thigh portions.

FIVE SPICE DUCK

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 with rack set in middle level.
• Wash duck, discarding excess fat, dry duck.
• Combine soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, and five-spice powder. Stir until sugar dissolves.
• Loosen skin from duck breast and leg joint too. Rub marinade all into them, between the meat and the skin, rub some into the cavity as well, put the ginger in there, truss with string (essential).
• Put a rack in a roasting pan. Place on duck with the breast side facing down. Bake 45 minutes, baste often. Turn, bake 45 minutes more, baste often still.
• Rest 15 minutes before carving, tenting with foil if desired.

FIVE-SPICE GRILLED DUCK WITH CITRUS SAUCE AND COUSCOUS

Steps:

• De-bone the duck and cut it into 4 pieces, reserving the bones for later use. In a large bowl, combine the five-spice blackening powder, sugar, and tea. Place the duck pieces in the bowl, and let the meat marinate for 1 hour. Heat a grill pan or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add enough oil to coat the surface of the pan, and let the oil heat. Season the duck pieces with salt, if desired. Carefully add the duck pieces to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Grill until cooked to desired degree of doneness, turning each piece with tongs halfway through cooking. Serve with Citrus Sauce, Couscous, baby spinach and mango slices, if desired.
• Combine the citrus juices and zest, sugar, mustard, and eggs, and whisk well. Slowly drizzle in the oil, whisking constantly until the mixture becomes thick. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Drizzle sauce over duck.
• Toast the trail mix in a dry medium skillet over medium-low heat until fragrant and golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the dry couscous to the skillet and continue to toast the mixture for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon. Remove pan from heat. In a large saucepot, combine the chicken stock and the duck stock and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the toasted trail mix and couscous mixture to the pot. Stir until incorporated and then cover the pot with a lid. Lower the heat to medium-low and allow the couscous to simmer until it absorbs the liquid. Fluff couscous with a fork and serve.
• Place the duck bones in a large pot and add enough water to cover bones. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Let simmer for 2 hours. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

ROAST FIVE-SPICE DUCK WITH HONEYED-MANGO CHUTNEY SAUCE

Steps:

• Bring first 10 ingredients to boil in large pot; boil 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in 6 cups cold water. Cool completely. Add ducks to brine, immersing entirely. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to 18 hours.
• Preheat oven to 425°F. Place rack in roasting pan. Remove ducks from brine and drain well. Pat dry with paper towels. Place ducks on rack in pan. Roast ducks 45 minutes. Remove excess fat from pan with baster. Continue roasting until instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 175°F, about 1 hour longer. Let rest 30 minutes.
• Cut each duck in half and transfer each half to plate. Spoon Honeyed-Mango Chutney Sauce alongside and serve.
• *Available at Asian markets and specialty foods stores, and in the spice section of some supermarkets.

AUTHENTIC CHINESE 5-SPICE PEKING DUCK

Steps:

• thaw duck overnight in refrigerator.
• remove giblets and trim excess fat from tail area or anywhere hanging.
• pierce chopstick or skewer under wing and bring through to other side to pierce through under the other wing on the other side in order to give you a way to dunk and hang duck. wings may be removed if desired.
• in large wok or pot bring water to a boil.
• add in ginger, vinegar, soy sauce, xiao xing, and honey and stir to dissolve honey completely.
• make a slurry with cornstarch (mix with water) then add to boiling mixture.
• dunk duck into boiling mixture and spoon liquid over duck for a couple of minutes making sure you completely moisten duck and render some fat.
• repeat process for another couple of minutes.
• immediately hang duck in cool room with a fan on high pointed directly on duck. make sure you put a pot or similar under duck to catch drippings.
• rotate duck to ensure even drying. should take about 5 hours. skin will become taunt and tight.
• after 4-6 hours, rub duck with 5-spice powder to taste.
• heat oven to 375 degrees.
• place duck onto roasting or cooling rack on middle or top rack of oven with a large pan filled with about 2 inches of water on bottom rack of a 375 degree oven. this will catch any drippings, keep your oven clean, and keep duck moist.
• roast uncovered for about 1-1 1/2 hours rotating it 2-3 times.
• check internal temperature for doneness. mine was perfect at 175 degrees in the breast. note that convection ovens will cook duck quite fast.
• remove duck and rest 10 minutes before serving whole or chopping Chinese style on the bone.

PAN-SEARED FIVE-SPICE DUCK BREAST WITH BALSAMIC JUS

Steps:

• In a large, heavy self-sealing plastic bag, combine the garlic, ginger, five-spice powder, salt, and pepper. Add the duck breasts, seal, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Remove from the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C/gas 6. In a large ovenproof sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Sear the duck breast, skin side down, for 5 minutes; turn and sear for 5 minutes on the other side. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 5 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer the duck breasts to a plate and keep warm.
• To make a balsamic jus, pour off the fat from the pan. Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the wine, and stir to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook to reduce the wine by half. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook to reduce for several more minutes.
• Cut the duck breasts into diagonal slices and serve drizzled with the balsamic jus.