Preparing fresh duck

February 28th, 2010 | By: Lynn Rehn

When my niece Noel was learning to cook, she told me she wanted to roast a duck.

“Is it complicated Aunt Lynnie?” she asked.

I told Noel that roasting a duck takes time and can be complicated, but when the process is broken down into three easy steps, it’s not too hard!

Issaquah markets never seem to fail me—I discovered that the Front Street Market will order fresh duck for customers!

To make this tasty and healthful main dish, I broke the best preparation method down to the three steps: Marinate, Steam, Roast. You will need some large gallon Ziploc baggies, kitchen twine, kitchen shears, a roasting pan, a large pot and three heat proof soufflé cups to invert in the pot to build your own steam rack.

The preparation of the raw duck is going to play an important role in your finished product. The day before you plan to cook the duck, trim off any visible fat and remove the wing tips because they are too bony for use. Next, get out those kitchen shears and snip out the breast bone, which you can access from the neck. This will make carving the cooked duck really easy. Finally, gently prick the thighs of the bird with a fork, but be careful not to pierce the flesh. Choose a marinade from the three recipes at our website: Asian, Pear Cider, or Cherry wine. Place the duck and the marinade into a Ziploc bag and place it into your refrigerator for 12 hours. Periodically turn the duck in the marinade to fully cover it.

On cooking day, preheat your oven to 375. Stuff your marinated duck with the aromatics, if called for, and then tie up your duck: First, place a long piece of string under the back by the wings and tie the wings tightly to the body. Next, tie the legs together with another piece of twine. Place three inverted, heat-proof bowls in the bottom of the pot to create a steam rack, and set the duck on top. Pour the marinade over the duck and add enough water to bring the water to within about a half inch of the top of the glass bowls. Turn on the heat and bring the pot to a simmer. Then cover the pot and steam for 40 minutes. Steaming the duck will extract quite a bit of the fat. After it’s been steamed, remove the bird from the pot and place breast side down onto your roasting rack in your oven. If you do not have a rack, set the duck on top of roughly cut onion, celery, carrots, and/or lemon slices, in the bottom of your roasting pan. Chefs call this a raft.

Do not toss your cooking liquid! For the sauce, strain the liquid from the pot into a bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. When the sauce has been chilled, you can remove the hardened fat from the top of the liquid, leaving you with a fine stock for the sauce reduction.

Put your defatted duck, breast down, into the preheated oven (375 degrees). Roast, uncovered, for 30 minutes and then flip the bird so it sits breast side up. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and continue roasting for 45 minutes to an hour. If the wings begin to brown too quickly, cover them with aluminum foil.

Meanwhile, prepare your sauce. Take your strained and defatted stock and add the ingredients for whichever marinade recipe you chose. The Asian duck has no sauce recipe – serve it with hoisin sauce, sweet chili sauce, or my favorite, Siracha sauce, also known as Asian ketchup.

Let the cooked duck stand for 20 minutes with a tent of aluminum foil covering it before carving and plating.

If roasting a duck still seems too complicated, or you don’t agree that that marinating, breast bone surgery, pricking, tying, steaming, de-fatting, roasting and saucing is an exciting and fun way to make a delicious dish (gasp!), you can always pick up the phone and order a beautifully whole-roasted duck to go from Mandarin Garden restaurant on Sunset Blvd, or from the new Chinese Dim sum Barbecue restaurant, Macky’s in Gilman village. Either restaurant owner will carve it for you!

For new cooks like my niece, here are some neat cooking tips:

1. Preheat your serving bowls or platters by placing them into the oven right after removing the food product. Leave the oven door open until the heat inside has reduced considerably, then shut the door and leave serving dishes in until you need them.
2. The Duck can be kept warm for a short time in a 165 degree oven.

Asian Duck

Ingredients:

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ cup Ponzu Sauce (this is a citrus soy sauce found in the Asian foods section of your market)
1 tsp five spice
4 whole star anise (available at PCC)
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup soy sauce
1 4-5 lb duck, rinsed

Directions:

1. First, prepare the bird: Trim off visible fat, remove wing tips and snip the breast bone. Finally, gently prick the thighs of the bird with a fork, but be careful not to pierce the flesh.
2. To make the marinade, combine the first six ingredients and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over duck and refrigerate overnight, turning a few times.
3. When you’re ready to cook, tie the bird, place a long piece of string under the back by the wings and tie the wings tightly to the body. Next, tie the legs together with another piece of twine.
4. Assemble your steaming rack by placing inverted bowls in the bottom of the pot. Pour the marinade over the duck and add water to come to within a half inch of the top of the bowls. Bring to boil, then cover and reduce heat to steam the duck for 45 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place bird breast side down on a roasting rack and bake for 30 minutes.
6. Using paper towels, turn the duck over and reduce heat to 325 degrees to roast the duck for 45 minutes to an hour.
7. Remove from oven and let rest for 20 minutes. To avoid steaming the crispy duck skin, cover the duck loosely with foil. Serve with Hoisin Sauce, Sweet Chili Sauce, or Siracha Sauce.

Pear Cider Roasted Duck

Ingredients:

1 quart cup pear juice or pear cider (reserve ¾ cup for sauce)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
6 slices fresh ginger root
2 roughly chopped onions (divided)
1 sliced lemon (divided)
1 4-5 lb duck, rinsed

Directions:

1. First, prepare the bird: Trim off visible fat, remove wing tips and snip the breast bone. Finally, gently prick the thighs of the bird with a fork, but be careful not to pierce the flesh.
2. To make the marinade, combine the first six ingredients, reserving half the lemon slices and half the chopped onions for stuffing the duck. Pour over duck and let marinate for 8 hours.
3. Assemble duck by first stuffing it with the reserved lemon slices and chopped onion. Then, tie up the bird by placing a long piece of string under the back by the wings and tying the wings tightly to the body. Tie the legs together with another piece of twine.
4. Place the duck on your steaming rack and pour marinade over the bird, including the onion and lemon slices. Add enough water to bring level of liquid to within a half inch of the steaming rack. Bring to boil, reduce heat cover and steam for 45 minutes.
5. Remove the duck, strain the stock and refrigerate immediately. After the liquid has cooled, remove congealed fat and reserve stock for sauce.
6. Meanwhile, place the steamed duck breast side down on a roasting rack into a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Using paper towels turn bird breast side up and reduce heat to 325 degrees for 45-60 minutes more.
7. Remove from oven and tent with aluminum foil for twenty minutes before serving with the sauce:

For sauce:

¾ cup pear juice or cider
1 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ tsp grated ginger
¼ tsp lemon zest

Bring the defatted duck stock, pear juice or cider and water to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and reduce by half. Then, add salt, pepper, grated fresh ginger and lemon zest. Pour over the duck before serving.

Cherry Wine Marinated Roast Duck with a Cherry Wine and Port Sauce

Ingredients:

2 cups cherry wine (ask your wine person to order it if they don’t have it in stock)
2 slices fresh ginger root
4 smashed garlic cloves
2 Bay leaves
4 slices of Lemon (2 for marinade and 2 for stuffing)
1 onion, roughly chopped

1. First, prepare the bird: Trim off visible fat, remove wing tips and snip the breast bone. Finally, gently prick the thighs of the bird with a fork, but be careful not to pierce the flesh.
2. For the marinade, combine the first six ingredients, reserving half the chopped onion and 2 of the lemon slices, and pour over your duck. Marinate overnight, turning a few times.
3. When you’re ready to cook, remove duck from marinade and stuff with reserved lemon slices and chopped onion. Tie up the bird by placing a long piece of string under the back by the wings and tying the wings tightly to the body. Tie the legs together with another piece of twine.
4. Assemble your steaming rack and place duck on its platform. Pour all of the marinade ingredients over the duck. Add water to within a half inch of the level of your steaming rack. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to medium to steam bird for 45 minutes.
5. Place steamed duck breast side down onto roasting rack in your roasting pan. Strain stock and chill immediately to congeal fat.
6. Put your duck into a preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Using paper towels, turn duck breast side up and reduce oven temp to 325 degrees. Continue roasting for another 45-60 minutes. Remove from oven, cover with foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving.

For the sauce:

2 cups cherry wine
¼ cup port
2 cups defatted duck stock
2 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 4 Tbsp tepid water
¼ cup cherry preserves.
1 -pinch of cinnamon
2 pinches of salt
6 grinds of pepper (or a pinch!)
1 tsp finely minced Shallot or (minced chive, or minced green onion tops)
1 pinch of fresh minced Parsley

Bring the wine, port and defatted duck stock to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until liquids are reduced in volume by half. Add cornstarch, stirring as your pour. Stir until sauce thickens and has a smooth texture. Add the cherry preserves, cinnamon, salt, pepper, shallot and parsley. Brush some sauce over the duck and serve the rest in a warm bowl.