Ingredients
- kg1/5 to 6 pound whole duck(I used D'Artagnan Rohan Duck)
- to 6 mixed citrus fruitsblood orange, lemon, and/or mandarin, peels removed
- Sea salt
- tablespoon sjam of your choice(blueberry, apricot, etc.)
- cup white wine
- to 4 tablespoon spotato starch(or cornstarch)
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to the lower third. Preheat oven to 120 C (250 degrees F). Line a baking pan with aluminium foil (for easy cleanup) and top with a V rack.
- Prepare a plate. Transfer the giblets from the duck to the plate. Use a pair of poultry shears to remove the duck neck and trim the neck skin. Do not trim any skin from the bottom of the duck, because it will keep the meat moist during roasting. Save the duck neck for making sauce or stock. Save the giblets for cooking or making stock.
- Place duck on a working surface or a cutting board. Stuff citrus inside of the duck, using as many fruits as you can. Use a few toothpicks to seal the bottom of the duck, to secure the fruits inside.
- Use a sharp paring knife to score the duck breast, about 1 cm (⅓ inch) apart.
- This will help the duck render fat faster and create a crispy skin.
- If you’re not familiar with this process, I suggest you start slow.
- The thickness of duck skin is not consistent.
- You need to avoid slicing through the meat, which will cause the duck to lose moisture.
- Gently press the knife.
- You might need to slice a few times to get the cut just right. ( see footnote 1)
- Rub both sides of the duck with plenty of sea salt. Place duck on the V rack, breast side up.
- Bake until the skin turns golden brown, 6 to 7 hours (depending on the thickness of the duck skin). You do not need to flip the duck or monitor the process.
- (Optional) When most of the duck fat has rendered and the skin has become thin (usually 6 hours to 6.5 hours), turn up the heat of the oven to 260 degrees C (500 F) to brown the duck for another 5 to 10 minutes. This method works better when you choose a duck breed with thinner skin (or a duck that was air chill processed). The skin will crisp up nicely and the meat will remain more juicy.
- Remove the duck from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Do NOT cover the duck with foil. This step further crisps up the skin. The stuffing will keep the duck meat hot.
- Transfer the duck onto a large cutting board. Carefully remove the citrus fruits (they will be very hot!) from the duck with a fork or a pair of tongs, and discard them.
- To carve the duck beautifully, you can refer to this video . Alternatively, you can simply pull the meat apart by hand.
- Transfer the rendered duck fat into a small bowl. When it has cooled off, cover with plastic wrap and store it in the fridge. Save for later use.
