I’m a big fan of roast duck! Duck is one of those meats that is less common in North American foods. It’s available at some restaurants but it’s really not something that you just come across on most menus. Luckily for me, it’s pretty popular in Chinese restaurants/cuisine in soup noodle dishes like vermicelli, duck soup, fried duck wings, duck crepes, cold duck wings, and my all time favourite: peking duck! 🍗
So I don’t know how to make Peking duck…so instead, making a Chinese style marinated roast duck is a pretty good alternative! Duck, like other poultry, is a good source of good source of protein, iron, selenium, B vitamins, niacin and zinc. It contains mostly healthy unsaturated fat (hooray!) and if you don’t eat the skin or eat much of the skin, the duck meat has less fat than roast skinless chicken breast. Like other B vitamins, niacin plays an important role in converting carbohydrates into glucose and metabolizing fats and proteins. B-12 is essential for nerve function, red blood cell formation, and DNA synthesis. You can find out more about duck nutrition at Very Well Fit!
I’m a biiiiiig fan of the skin so moderation is key here. 😂If I could, I would legitimately probably fry up all of it by myself. The combination of the juicy meat with the savoury marinated skin = perfection. 🤤
Serve the duck meat with plum sauce or hoisin sauce for an excellent combination of sweet and salty! Usually we serve with a side of rice and veggies but you can also just carve up the duck and toss it with some noodles or put in soup.
Chinese Roast Duck with Homemade Plum Sauce
Sweet, savoury deliciousness that will satisfy your tastebuds and stomach. Using Chinese spices and local fruit to create a totally exciting meal!
Ingredients
- 1 whole duck
- sea salt
Marinade
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/4 cup Shaoxing wine
- 1/2 tsp five spice powder
- 1 1/14 tsp ground ginger or about 1 inch of fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
- 4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Plum Sauce
- 1 cup plum jam Homemade or store bought
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp golden brown sugar
- 1 tbsp minced onion
- 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
Instructions
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Combine all the marinade ingredients in a small food processor and puree with an immersion blender until it forms a runny sauce. Pat the duck dry with paper towels. Place in a 12 inch tray or freezer bag, skin side up. Pour marinade into the tray or baking dish or freezer bag. Sprinkle salt on the skin.
Marinate in room temperature for 30 minutes up to 1 hour, or uncovered in the fridge for a couple hours to overnight. In this case, bring the duck to your kitchen counter for at least 30 minutes before cooking, so it will return to room temperature.
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Preheat the oven to 375F. Poke some small holes in the duck skin so it can release the yummy fats for a crisper skin. When the oven is ready, cook the duck for about 18 minutes per pound or until the internal meat temperature is 145F. We spatchcocked our duck so it would cook faster!
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While it's cooking, take the plum sauce ingredients and bring them all to a boil over medium heat in a small pot. Let it cool and thicken, then serve with the duck and sides.
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Change the oven over to a broil and toast the skin of the duck for a couple minutes at the very end. Let the duck rest a bit out of the oven on a wood tray and carve as you would a chicken.
Hi Fiona,
So looking forward to trying this recipe. I cooked a brome lake duck recently and it was very fatty, so much so that I even cut off about a cup from around the neck before cooking it. And it cooked on a rack in the pan and that was full of fat. What type of duck do you use?
Hi Cathy! It’s a King Cole Duck and the main fat is on the skin but when we cooked it, there wasn’t too much around the neck (we take out the neck) and there was some fat dribble in the pan but not as much as I’ve seen in other ducks. If you’re concerned about too much fat, you can remove some of the skin prior to cooking. Luckily if you do decide to eat some of it, it’s mostly unsaturated fats. 🙂