There are a dozen ways to get your duck going. My in-laws would serve it in a curry, and while I love the resulting gravy, I thought a more steak-like dish would be more fun in our new deep-welled wok. Instead of going Desi, let’s look at Chinese flavors as we prep.
Toast Szechuan peppercorns, cloves, fennel seeds, cinnamon sticks, and star anise until aromatic and blitz them into a fine powder. Your home-made blend of Chinese 5-spice will take this dish a long way.
If you have your skin-on duck breast ready, let’s get this going.
Instructions
- Coat your spice mix with the breast. Salt the whole thing, but be generous on the skin side. We're going to help render the fat out. If it's just out of the fridge, get it out at room temp for a couple hours.
- Place the breast skin-side down in your pan before turning on your stove. Set it at a high heat. We are crisping up the skin slowly as we let the fat release into the pan.
- After approximately 7 minutes, you should have it swimming in some fat. Kill the heat, throw in a couple crushed garlic cloves (I forgot whom I was talking to - put in the whole damn garlic bulb) and place the whole pan into a 175°F/80°C oven. We're cooking the rest of the muscle for another fifteen minutes in a low temp and letting the garlic marinade.
- Pop it out of the oven, place the duck on a rack to cool (take out the garlic while you're at it). Strain out the remnants of the wok into a jar and store in the fridge. Duck fat is liquid GOLD and can help give a certain richness to your veggies specifically. You might even say it becomes duck-adent.
- We're treating this baby like steak, and after 15 minutes of cooling, cut fine slices against the grain use the meat however you like. We had Asian-inspired salad and Mediterranean-inspired pizza, but you'll have to hold ut for those recipes Enjoy!
