Home Recipes Roasted Braised Duck
by: Judy
212 Comments
Jump to Recipe
This roasted braised duck recipe is so good. With a few special ingredients and a little time, you’ll have an amazing, special dinner on your hands.
After living in Beijing for three years, I’ve had many versions of Peking Duck, and I can honestly say that I’m not that crazy about it. How can I say that, you ask? How could I not love the pride and joy of the Beijing?
Well, the thing about Peking duck is…it doesn’t really have a lot of flavor. There, I said it. Everyone tells me that the duck is roasted in an oven fueled by fruit wood, which is supposed to infuse the meat with fruit flavor that I can never smell or taste. If it weren’t for the sauce and the fixings, it would be way to boring. Yeah, the duck is crispy. But where’s the flavor?
In my opinion, Cantonese roast duck is the best but how to cook duck like that at home? While it’s almost impossible to do that dish justice at home, here’s a recipe that comes pretty close and show you how to cook a duck that is super tasty.
Roasted Braised Duck: Recipe Instructions
Rinse the duck inside and out and thoroughly pat dry. Remove the tail. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over medium heat, and swirl it around to coat the wok.
Lower the duck into the wok breast side down, and let the skin brown and crisp up slightly.
Spoon the oil over the parts of the duck that aren’t touching the oil. You will end up with a lot more oil than you started with, as the fat renders out of the duck. Turn off the heat.
In a large pot (big enough to accommodate the duck laying flat) over medium heat, add a tablespoon of the fat from the wok, and cook the ginger and garlic for about 1 minute. Stir in the rock sugar until it’s melted.
Add the Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, rice vinegar, star anise, cloves, bay leaves, whole peppercorns, dried orange peel, 3 cups water and the duck. The liquid should come up about halfway up the duck. Add a little more water as needed.
Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 50-60 minutes, flipping the bird every 15 minutes to make sure it cooks evenly.
Carefully lift the duck out and drain all the liquid from the cavity, Place the duck on a V-rack or roastingrack set on a baking sheet. breast side up. Brush the duck all over with honey water. Set aside and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Roast the duck for 12-15 minutes, until the skin is crispy. Watch it closely to prevent burning. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving. You can serve it just like that, or with some of the sauce left over in the pot.
I actually cooked another dish using the sauce the next day: napa cabbage and cellophane noodles. Just cut the cabbage into strips and stir-fry in a bit of oil. Add the softened cellophane noodles and stir. Then add the leftover sauce, cover, and cook for a couple minutes. Season with salt to taste, andserve. Yum.’
Looking for more authentic recipes? Subscribe to our email list and be sure to follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube!
4.67 from 24 votes
Roasted Braised Duck
This roasted braised duck recipe is so good. With a few special ingredients and a little time, you’ll have an amazing, special dinner on your hands.
by: Judy
Course:Chicken and Poultry
Cuisine:Chinese
serves: 6 servings
Prep: 15 minutes minutes
Cook: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes
Total: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
Rate
Ingredients
- 4-5 lb. duck (innards removed)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 5 slices fresh ginger
- 6 cloves garlic (peeled and smashed)
- 1 tablespoon rock sugar (or regular sugar)
- ½ cup Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine)
- 1 ½ tablespoons dark soy sauce
- ¼ cup light soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 star anise
- 6 cloves
- 3 bay leaves
- 12 whole peppercorns
- 4-5 pieces dried orange peel
- 3-4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon honey (mixed with 1 teaspoon warm water)
Instructions
Rinse the duck inside and out and thoroughly pat dry. Remove the tail. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over medium heat, and swirl it around to coat the wok.
Lower the duck into the wok breast side down, and let the skin brown and crisp up slightly. Spoon the oil over the parts of the duck that aren’t touching the oil. You will end up with a lot more oil than you started with, as the fat renders out of the duck. Turn off the heat.
In a large pot (big enough to accommodate the duck laying flat) over medium heat, add a tablespoon of the fat from the wok, and cook the ginger and garlic for about 1 minute. Stir in the sugar until it’s melted.
Add the cooking wine, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, rice vinegar, anise, cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, dried orange peels, 3 cups water and the duck. The liquid should come up about halfway up the duck. Add a little more water as needed.
Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 50-60 minutes, flipping the bird every 15 minutes to make sure it cooks evenly.
Carefully lift the duck out and drain all the liquid from the cavity, Place the duck on a V-rack set on a baking sheet. breast side up. Brush the duck all over with honey water. Set aside and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Roast the duck for 12-15 minutes, until the skin is crispy. Watch it closely to prevent burning. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving. You can serve it just like that, or with some of the sauce leftover in the pot.
nutrition facts
Calories: 553kcal (28%) Carbohydrates: 5g (2%) Protein: 16g (32%) Fat: 53g (82%) Saturated Fat: 17g (85%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g Monounsaturated Fat: 25g Trans Fat: 0.01g Cholesterol: 97mg (32%) Sodium: 549mg (23%) Potassium: 318mg (9%) Fiber: 0.4g (2%) Sugar: 2g (2%) Vitamin A: 220IU (4%) Vitamin C: 5mg (6%) Calcium: 32mg (3%) Iron: 4mg (22%)
Did You Make This?Tag us on Instagram @thewoksoflife, subscribe to our email list, and be sure to follow us on social for more recipes!
You may also like…
Braised Duck with Taro
Chinese Braised Duck Legs
Braised Oxtails
Crispy Duck Wrap
About Judy
Judy is the mom of The Woks of Life family. Born in Shanghai, she arrived in the U.S. at age 16. Fluent in both English and three separate Chinese dialects, she's our professional menu translator when we're eating our way through China. Dedicated to preserving disappearing recipes and traditions, her specialty is all things traditional, from mooncakes to home-style stir-fries.
Subscribe
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
212 Comments
Newest
OldestMost Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments