Roast Duck With a Honey Soy Basting Sauce

The Flying Chef's Note:

Here is the recipe for the duck I did, I baste the bird all the way through cooking and then I heat the basting sauce and mix some cornflour in, to thicken and serve on the side as a sauce. Because of the Asian flavours unless serving this as a dish by itself, if you are making it along with other meats, I use a separate side plate, as the sauce does not mix well with a normal gravy. I made two birds for Christmas and you will see from the picture that it was not an enormous amount of meat, so remember this when cooking it, as to how many ducks you will need for the amount of people feeding. This is wonderful tasting duck and it always the first meat to go when I make it and with rave reviews.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 kg duck (mine were smaller than this, hence 2, I think this should be about right for 4 people.)

Honey Soy Basting Sauce

• 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 4 garlic cloves , crushed
• 4 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1⁄3; cup olive oil
• 1 -2 teaspoon cornflour

Directions:

1. Note: I never measure the basting sauce exactly, I think this should be about right, but do adjust for taste if I am a little off.
2. Wash duck under cold water and remove any missed feathers.
3. Combine all the basting ingredients and boil over a high heat for about 2 minutes. Keep sauce warm while basting, stirring occasionally.
4. Place duck in a roasting dish, brush with basting sauce. Bake in a slow oven (130°C) for about three hours, bast several times while cooking. (I like to do this slow to stop the skin from burning.).
5. Turn the oven up to 170-180 and continue to roast for a further 30-45 minutes until skin is browned and crisp and duck is cooked through.
6. As the duck is finishing off, mix a little water with cornflour, turn up the heat on stove, add cornflour to basting sauce and stir until mixture thickens. (I say 1-2 teaspoons of cornflour, the amount will depend on how much of the sauce has been used during cooking and how much it has reduced by.).
7. Serve Duck with basting sauce.

Reviews

[JustJanS]

Russell reckons this is one of the best duck dishes he's ever eaten-high praise indeed as we eat quite a lot of duck. I looked at the recipe and decided I couldn't add olive oil to a creature which gives off so much fat during the cooking of it. My Dijohn has been a particularly spicy one, so I cut that back to 3 tablespoons. Both those alterations worked just fine and the left over baste was a really delicous sauce and didn't need the cornflour. It was a test of strength to smell this cooking on a cold wet afternoon but well worth the test!

[Leggy Peggy]

This is a 10-star recipe! I haven't made duck for ages because I am often disappointed with the result, but this recipe is a true winner. I agree with Jan -- there is no need to add oil to the basting sauce, or cornflour later. Thank you so very much for posting.

[Peter J]

Amazing! Only change I made was using half the quantity of olive oil. It was a rich and delicious sauce that was great soaked up along with some roast potatoes I cooked along with the duck. It's the first time I've slow cooked a duck at the start and it gave the perfect combination of moistness with a nice and crisp but not burnt skin.