Crispy duck with plum sauce

Now this way off cooking duck give you a very crispy skin and you can still have the duck pink in the middle if you want . To get the best result it is beat to do the marinade   the day before but you can do it and hour or so before if you like it is up to you .

Ingredients

For the marinade

2.5cm/1 in piece fresh root ginger

4 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry

10 peppercorns

pinch of salt

6 whole star anise

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 duck breasts

For the plum sauce

100ml/3½fl oz water

4 plums

50g/2oz dried apricots, chopped

2½ tsp caster sugar

1 tbsp honey

1 cinnamon stick

1 whole star anise

1 lime, juice only

Start by taking your buck barest and with a sharp knife score the skin side criss-cross pattern. The plunging them in to a pan of boiling water with the   peppercorns, salt , star anise, and let them poach for a moment or two. This forces the fat out of the skin so when you cook it, it goes very crispy and stay that way. Also it lets the spice infuse with the duck.  Once you have done this strain ever thing in to a colander and place the duck and spices in to a bowl. Now to this add the ginger crushed, crushed garlic,  rice wine , dark soy sauce,  light soy sauce and sesame oil, cover the bowl and let it sit for at least and hour best over night.

To cook the duck you need to have a frying pan or wok smoking hot, use just a touch of oil to grease the pan then lat the duck in the pan skin side down. Now if you are lucky like me you have a heavy pan that you can transfer from the stove to the oven if not you will have to remove it from the pan after you have sealed the skin. Let it cook skin side for about 3 to 5 minutes skin side down then turn it skin side up then put it in to an oven set at 200c/ 400f for at least another 10 to 15 minutes until it is cooked to your liking.

For the sauce all you have to do is bring the water to the boil then add the plums, sugar, honey, cinnamon stick and star anise to the pan. Make sure that you have taken the stones out of your plumbs. Turn the heat down and let it reduce so it thicken and becomes sticky then take it off the heat and add the lemon juice. Now pass it all trough a sieve and discard the spices and what is left of the plumb skins and you have your sauce.

Now just slice you duck and spoon a little sauce around it and you have a winning duck dish, crispy skin and sweet plumb sauce.