Roast Duck with Orange and Ginger
Updated Aug. 17, 2022
- Total Time
- 3½ hours, plus overnight seasoning
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 15- to 6-pound Pekin (Long Island) duck
- 3tablespoons kosher salt
- 1tablespoon 5-spice powder, preferably homemade (see note)
- 1large orange, zested and cut into 6 wedges
- 1tablespoon grated ginger
- 1tablespoon grated garlic
- 2cups orange juice
- 1tablespoons honey
- 2tablespoons Demerara sugar
- 2tablespoons soy sauce
- 12-inch piece of ginger, thickly sliced
- 3star anise
For the Duck
For the Glaze
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
1417 calories; 125 grams fat; 42 grams saturated fat; 59 grams monounsaturated fat; 16 grams polyunsaturated fat; 32 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 24 grams sugars; 39 grams protein; 1221 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Rinse duck and pat dry. Remove neck and giblets and save for another purpose. Remove excess fat from cavity and tail area and trim off a bit of flappy neck skin. Prick duck skin all over with tip of sharp paring knife, making sure not to penetrate meat.
- Step 2
Mix together salt and 5-spice powder. Season interior of duck with 1 tablespoon salt mixture; use remainder to generously season exterior (you may have a little left over). Combine orange zest with grated ginger and garlic, then smear mixture inside cavity. Place orange wedges in cavity. Tie legs together. Secure neck flap with wooden skewer or toothpicks. Place duck on rack in roasting pan breast-side-up and refrigerate overnight, uncovered.
- Step 3
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, bring duck to room temperature and make the glaze: Bring orange juice, honey, sugar and soy sauce to a simmer. Add sliced ginger and star anise, then reduce mixture until you have a medium-thick syrup, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Step 4
Roast duck for 2 hours, carefully pouring off fat and turning duck over every 30 minutes. Paint with glaze and roast another 30 minutes (2½ hours in all). Tent with foil if glaze begins to get too dark. Duck is done when temperature at thickest part of leg reads 165 degrees. Paint duck once more, keep warm and let rest 20 minutes. Use poultry shears to cut into quarters (remove backbone first) or carve in the traditional way, removing legs from carcass and slicing breast. Serve with mashed butternut squash if desired.
- To make your own five-spice powder, put 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, 1 teaspoon fennel seed, 1 teaspoon cloves, 6 star anise, a 2-inch piece of cinnamon stick (crushed) and 12 allspice berries in an electric spice mill and grind to a fine powder. This should yield about 3 tablespoons. Store in a glass jar.
Private Notes
Comments
Overall I thought the recipe came out very well but I had trouble with the glaze thickening. I would appreciate any tips on why a few of us had issues with the sauce.
I reguraly cook duck and I prefer a slow roast at 300 degrees for four hours. I turn it every hour and apply the glaze at the end and turn the heat up to 450 for 5-7 minutes. Using this method I've never had a dry or tough duck. I also score the skin along with poking small holes which results in a crispy skin.
For more succulent meat and crispier skin, I tried my usual duck roasting times:
- 1h20m at 350F (180C) for a large duck (1.6kg/3.5lbs). A smaller one can be cooked at this temp for 1h00.
- Remove duck, glaze as directed. Heat oven to 450F(230C) or as high as it will go. After duck has rested for 15-20 minutes and oven has heated up, return duck to oven for another 20 minutes (15 if smaller).
This gave a lovely crispy skin, with the sugars in the glaze that had just burnt perfectly. Delicious!
All these comments about too salty - this depends on the brand of kosher salt you're using. Morton's is about 2x as salty by volume as Diamond Crystal. NYTimes should specify which they used for the recipe.
Duck turned out beautifully. I'm glad I used my common sense and only used 1 T of the salt mixture inside and a half T outside (I had Morton's kosher salt)
Absolutely wonderful. I brined the day before doing the the rub with salt, sugar, and lemons. Everything was very moist and tender. Reduced the glaze until syrupy which took a long time.
I agree the glaze did not thicken. not sure if it was the sugar or lack of or possibly lack of pulp in my oj