Andrew - a friend of mine asked me recently how to cook Christmas duck. Business brought him to Hong Kong where he lives now with his wife and two kids. He told me about the numerous ducks which are showcased in restaurants windows ready to be sliced with their fat dripping of its fat bodies. I am not sure how Chinese-style ducks are cooked so I recommended my holiday duck.
(sliced duck breast, duck confit cube, sweet potato puree and roasted Jerusalem artichoke)
Daffy Duck, Donald Duck What’s The Difference?
Fresh ducks available in US markets are most likely Pekin ducks (available whole or in parts such as breasts and legs). Rather seldom, in some stores you’ll find huge Muscovy duck breasts (Muscovys are force feed for foie gras/fattened duck liver production - hence the gigantic size) or Moulard ducks (a hybrid of Pekin and Muscovy duck).
("naked" Long Island duck)
(this is what the package looks like)
Turducken-Style
You have an option to cook your holiday duck Turducken-style (the word consists out of TURkey-DUCK-hEN) where a deboned turkey is stuffed with boneless duck and that is stuffed with deboned chicken and that is stuffed with a bread and sausage stuffing. Think again!
Forget About Whole Duck
You may cook holiday duck separately meaning cook duck legs confit style and the breasts similar like a steak on the grill or skillet.
If you are not sure how to cut a whole duck in parts I recommend buying duck breast and legs individually. You’ll notice a rather thick layer of fat which insulated the duck from cold temperature (when it was still swimming).
Duck Confit
Mentioned duck fat is great for cooking “in its on juices”.
(left photo: raw duck legs seasoned)
(right photo: cooked duck leg confit...super tender and delicous)
-Season raw duck legs with salt, fresh pepper, thyme, a few peeled garlic gloves and some coriander seeds.
- Put duck legs in an oven proof dish (only as big to fit all duck legs) and cover with aluminum foil tightly. Transfer the seasoned duck legs into the refrigerator and let the spices marinade duck leg meat for three days or so.
- Put marinated duck legs into the oven and set temperature to 250 degree Fahrenheit then cook for six hours or until the meat almost falls of the bone (in this way duck leg fat will melt slowly and duck leg meat will cook immersed “in its on juices” to a melting soft texture).
Duck “steak”
Cooking duck legs confit-style will leave you plenty of time to cook duck breasts.
Like duck legs, breasts have excessive fat so I render some of it off as follows.
(duck breast cooked skin-side-down, only to melt some fat off)
- Heat a skillet on low heat setting then season duck breasts with salt and fresh pepper then cook them skin-side-down (no cooking oil needed) for ten minutes or so (this will melt excessive fat from the duck breasts).
- Cool duck breasts completely at room temperature then wrap tightly into plastic wrap. Put wrapped duck breasts into a Zip-loc style bag then transfer into a pot filled with hot tap water. Check temperature with kitchen food thermometer it should be around 130 degree Fahrenheit (to keep water at constant temperature put water filled pot on lowest heat setting or gas setting on pilot light or low, it will take a few tries to keep temperature constant). Duck breast will cook in 25 minutes and can be kept at this temperature (130 degree Fahrenheit) for up to two hours (extended cooking time will give you flexibility to prepare other parts of your holiday meal).
- Unwrap duck breasts from plastic wrap then dry with kitchen paper towel. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet on high heat setting then cook duck breasts skin-side-down (3-5 minutes or until browned). Move skillet to side of stove to rest cooked duck breasts in the cooling skillet (in this way natural duck juices will distribute in breasts).
Simply Saucy
If you like to get fancy with sauces add the fresh juice of an orange to the skillet (same skillet duck breasts where cooked-in) then reduce on medium heat setting and scratch the cooking residue from duck breasts (scratch cooking residue with a kitchen spatula off the skillet bottom).
For some French-style cooking you may add a generous piece of butter to the reducing orange juice. Voila duck a l’orange.
(duck leg confit with hearts of romaine and orange)
