Roasted Braised Duck With Duck Gravy

What's your favorite way to cook duck? This is definitely mine. Moist, tender, not at all greasy, and so full of flavor. To be fair.... I've only cooked duck one time before so there may be another style of cooking duck that will become my fav in the future. For now though... THIS. This is the way to go. 

Searing the duck, then braising it, and then roasting it... whaat whaaat!!  Amazing. 

(I also then used the carcass and leftovers to make the BEST duck noodle soup in the universe. Check out that recipe HERE!) 

My flavor profile was inspired by Peking Duck. All those wonderful Asian flavors pair so well with the fattier duck meat. I will be making this again when our local grocery store gets more duck in. Unfortunately living in a small town that opportunity doesn't come up very often! That's okay though. It just means it stays a special treat! Let us know if you give this a try! We'd love to hear what you think.

Roasted Braised Duck

Ingredients

1 4 or 5 lb duck

1 Tbsp sesame oil

2 tsp ginger paste (or 5 slices fresh ginger)

8 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp honey

1/2 cup Chinese cooking wine

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 Tbsp rice vinegar

3 bay leaves

1/4 tsp pepper

dried peel from one orange

1 (946 ml) carton Campbell's Pho broth (or chicken) 

Honey Water

1 tsp honey

1 tsp hot water

Duck  Sauce (Gravy)

liquid from simmering duck

2 - 3 Tbsp cornstarch

Directions

Rinse the duck and pat it dry. Remove any innards, if you haven't already. 

Heat the sesame oil in a large wok. Place the duck, breast side down into the hot oil and let it brown. Spoon the oil over the parts of the duck not touching the oil. (Note - You will end up with more oil than you started with!) 

Once browned, remove the wok from the heat and set aside.

In a large pot (large enough to hold the duck), over medium heat, add 2 Tbsp of fat from the wok. Cook the ginger and garlic for 1 minute. Stir in the honey until it is melted. 

Add in cooking wine, soy sauce, rice vinegar,  bay leaves, pepper, and and orange peel. Bring to a boil.

Stir in the pho broth and then set the duck in the pan. The liquid should come up at least half way on the duck. Add a bit more water if necessary. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. 

Simmer the duck for one hour, flipping the bird over every 15 minutes to ensure even cooking. 

After an hour, preheat the oven to 425. Carefully lift the duck out and drain any liquid from the cavity. Place duck, breast side up, on a wire rack placed on a cookie sheet. 

Brush the duck with the honey water. 

Roast the duck at 425 for about 15 minutes, until skin is crispy and golden brown. 

Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before carving. 

While bird is resting, prepare the sauce.

Drain the simmering liquid through a sieve into another pot. Place pot over medium heat. In a small bowl, whisk together about 1/3 cup of the liquid and 2 Tbsp cornstarch. Stir this back into the pot of liquid. Bring to a boil and let thicken. If it is not thickening very much then repeat the above step with one more Tbsp of cornstarch. It should be the consistency of a thin gravy. Not too thick! 

Serve hot.

We had ours with rice (perfect for that rich duck sauce!) and okonomiyaki (a Japanese savory cabbage pancake - check back soon for that recipe!) 

Save any leftovers to make our yummy Duck Noodle Soup (recipe HERE)  

The Duck Sauce goes well with everything, BTW. I made poutine with it and just about died it was so good. Not even lying. You'll want to save every drop of it! 

I should have made duck poutine. Well. Now I have to get another duck because that needs to happen. 

Not sure how to cook that duck in your freezer? Give this recipe a try. The braising seems to release all of the greasiness that I find usually accompanies duck meat. This wasn't greasy at all. 

FYI -  use a meat thermometer to make sure you cook your duck to the proper temperature!