Five Spice & Orange Duck

Category: Main Dishes | Blog URL: http://www.mycookinghut.com/2007/11/07/five-spice-orange-duck/

This recipe was entered in The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest, a compilation of the world’s best food blogs which was published in Fall 2010.

Photo: My Cooking Hut

Ingredients

2 Good quality duck breasts

1 Cinnamon stick

2 Star anise

2 centimeters Ginger (sliced)

4 Garlic cloves (slightly crushed and leave the skins on)

2 stalks Spring onion (cut into about 4-5cm)

Orange zests, to taste

3 1/2 tablespoons Orange juice

4 tablespoons Dark soy sauce

5 tablespoons Soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons Sugar

1 teaspoon White pepper

2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine

2 teaspoons Five-Spice powder

Preparation

Wash and use kitchen towel to pad dry the duck breasts.

Place the duck breasts in a big bowl and put in all the above mentioned ingredients and seasonings.

Mix all the ingredients well.

Cover the bowl with cling film and put into the fridge to marinate for a few hours.

Once the duck breasts have been marinated for a few hours, heat a pan and make sure it’s hot enough to sear the duck breasts.

Always skin side down.

Meanwhile, turn on the oven at 180 – 200 C.

Cook the skin side for about 8-10 minutes. Then turn the other side and cook for about 5-10.

Once both side are seared, put the duck breasts into the pre-heated oven and cook for about 25 minutes depending if you’d like to have the meats slightly medium cooked. If you prefer them to be cooked well done, leave in the oven slightly longer.

Check the duck breasts from time to time and and brush the marinate on each side to keep them moist and to have nice golden brown colour.

Once the breasts are cooked, slice the breasts thinly and serve on the plate with its juice.

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About

If you a fan of duck, I will make your day today as I am gonna feature our ALL TIME FAVOURITE – Five Spice & Orange Duck. Never does this dish fail to satisfy our hunger.

Often, over complicate a dish is a big no-no. Simple and good quality of the main ingredient itself is the centre of attention. Like five spice and orange duck, I use very simple marinate but I make sure that I spend a little more for 2 good pieces of duck breasts. I usually like to marinate meats a few hours before cooking or even overnight sometimes! This allows the marinate to work its magic in making a wonderful and impeccable dish.

In a typical Chinese family in Malaysia, duck is only served during special occasion. It’s not a dish that my mom makes on a frequent manner like chicken. I guess that’s why duck seems to be a very special dish when it’s served. In Chinese cooking, Roast duck, Peking duck and Crispy duck are the famous ones that no one will miss when visiting a Chinese restaurant.

So, why did I choose to choose five spice and orange as a pair? I think five spice brings out the real flavours of meats. Wikipedia: Five Spice (??) incorporates the five basic flavors of Chinese cooking — sweet, sour, bitter,savory, and salty. What are the five spices? Fennel, cloves, Szechuan peppercorns, star anise, and cinnamon.

As for orange, I borrow the idea of French dish canard à l’orange. As you may say, five spice and orange duck is a dish of East & West combination. Let’s bring five spice and orange duck to your kitchen, shall we?