December 27th, 2009 by Dawn Becker

My cousin Casey came over for dinner before he left for his holiday with Ozana in Vancouver. As they are both adventurous dining companions of mine, I thought I’d try to roast my first duck. Being a little behind schedule I was too late to pick up a fresh peking duck from T&T Supermarket. So with limited options and no time to go elsewhere I ended up purchasing a frozen duckling that I’d say was about 4 lbs.

After thawing overnight in the fridge, I decided to go simple for my first whole duck. I removed the neck and giblets and reserved for making stock later. I then cut out the fat deposits around the openings and as mentioned in a couple of recipes I pulled the skin up from the flesh to create a sort of skin sock. Just saying “skin sock” makes me laugh out loud, like right now, however it is really an accurate description.

The idea is that the skin would crisp up as the fat melted off. I suppose this is what happens when I stuff herbs under the skin when I roast a chicken and that always turns out perfectly crispy. I then seasoned the duck with a mixture of five-spice powder, salt and pepper, inside the cavity and on the skin. To provide some additional aromatics I stuffed the cavity with slices of orange rind (no white pith which is bitter), one quartered onion and some green onions. I then set the duck aside to further dry the skin as I prepared the rest of our meal.

I’m not one to follow any specific recipe to the letter preferring to use recipes as a guide. As I’m more of an intuitive home cook adjusting here and there as needed. It’s actually a challenge for me to keep track of ingredients and cooking times. This is why you’ll rarely, if ever, see me baking which demands a fairly exact scientific approach.

I cooked the whole duck breast-side down on a rack in a roasting pan at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 45 minutes turning the duck breast-side up after the first hour and basting every ten minutes for the last 30 minutes. The duck was cooked but the skin was not as crispy as I would have liked. Then I realized that I was supposed to cook the duck at 375 degrees F which I think would have made all the difference to the skin – another thought would be to blast the skin on a higher temperature, say 425 degrees F for the last 10 minutes to crisp the skin. Overall, the duck was very tasty, definitely juicy and relatively easy to do. If you can roast a chicken, a duck will be no problem for you. As is true for anything new, you just need to keep trying until you get it the way you like it in your oven.From this photo I think you can see my duck carving skills need some work. Not like slicing a sexy canard de magret breast but hey, it’s a first. Below is an update to the recipe I used that night taking my results into account.

Five-Spice Roast Duck

1 whole duck, thawed (about 4 to 5lbs)

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp five-spice powder

rind of one orange with no pith (I use a vegetable peeler)

1 yellow onion, quartered

4 whole green onions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix together salt, pepper and five-spice powder and rub into the skin of the duck and inside the cavity. Stuff duck with orange rind slices, quartered yellow onion and green onions. Place duck breast-side down on a rack in a roasting pan. Cook 1 hour 30 minutes turning the duck so the breast-side is up after an hour and basting with the pan juices every 10 minutes for the last 30 minutes. Then raise oven temperature to 425 degrees F to crisp the skin watching closely so as not to burn, about 10 minutes. Slice and serve. (I personally think one duck is good for two people with leftovers which I would definitely want.)