How to Cook Perfect Christmas Roast Crispy Duck by Gizzi Erskine

Name: How to Cook Perfect Christmas Roast Crispy Duck by Gizzi Erskine
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 5 Litres water; 3 Star anise; 2 Cinnamon sticks; 5 Slices of fresh root ginger, bruised; 2 Spring onions, split down the middle; 5 Tablespoons barley malt (if from health food stores, but if you really can’t find it, use honey); 4 Tablespoons light soy sauce; 2 Tablespoons seal salt flakes; 1 x 5kg (11lb) Free range Farmison Yorkshire Wolds duck, cleaned of all offal and excess fat

25 mins
4

Recipe by

Gizzi Erskine

Ingredients

5 Litres water
3 Star anise
2 Cinnamon sticks
5 Slices of fresh root ginger, bruised
2 Spring onions, split down the middle
5 Tablespoons barley malt (if from health food stores, but if you really can’t find it, use honey)
4 Tablespoons light soy sauce
2 Tablespoons seal salt flakes
1 x 5kg (11lb) Free range Farmison Yorkshire Wolds duck, cleaned of all offal and excess fat

Introduction

Roasting a duck is not always just roasting a duck, sadly. There are techniques we can learn from around the world, like in Canton cooking; where they focus on getting your duck skin sop crisp it's like shards of glass. Or places like Scotland where they want the breasts so pink and you get the best of the gameyness of the meat. Here I've bloody well tried, this is a fun Christmas project, that takes a couple of days, but this is not cooking for the beginner….

Method

First of all were going to make our cooking liqueur. Place the water, star anise, cinnamon, ginger, spring onions, maltose, soy and salt in a pan and bring to the boil. Cook for 10 minutes at a rolling boil.
Prick the duck all over with a tiny needle. This takes quite a bit of time, but it's worth it for really crispy skin, as it allows the fat to pour out of it.
Carefully dunk the duck in the hot liquor and leave it there for 3 minutes before taking it out and placing it on a wire rack over a baking tray to dry. Making sure you pat off excess liquid, but don't rub off all the flavours. The idea is that the skin will tighten up.
Now move the goose on the wire rack into the fridge to dry for 15-36 hours. The skin of the duck will feel like wax paper when it's dry.
Preheat the oven to 250°C. Place a trivet or rack in a roasting tin and place the goose on top.
Roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 200°C, cook for 25 minutes.
Remove the bird from the oven and leave it to rest for 30 minutes.
After about 10 minutes you can remove the legs and get them back into the oven. I carve them off, detaching the legs at the hip bone. Pop them into a pan and let them roast for another 20 minutes.
Serve the legs cooked and crisp alongside the crown up the bird. It's worth noting that the duck will leak tons of its fat, which is terrific to keep for roasting your potatoes, but keep an eye on it and pour away the fat as you see fit, but save back the juices for the gravy.