The skin is lovely, crispy and the meat just fall off the bone, tender, juicy and delectable with just the right amount of fat. While your duck is roasting, all the duck fat renders into the pan and can be save for future cooking. This stuff is gold. You’re not just getting a roasted duck here, but flavorful meat, to die for crispy skin, a wonderful broth and that amazing to cook with, duck fat. Chinese cooking wine is used in many oriental dishes. It is a dry rice wine that has a slightly nutty taste.

Chinese Roasted Duck Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4-5 lb. duck (innards removed)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 5 slices fresh ginger
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 tbsp rock sugar (or regular sugar)
• ½ cup Chinese cooking wine
• 1 ½ tbsp dark soy sauce
• ¼ cup light soy sauce
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• 3 star anise
• 6 cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• 12 whole peppercorns
• 4-5 pieces of dried orange peel
• 3-4 cups water
• 1 tsp honey, mixed with 1 tsp warm water

Preparation:

Rinse the duck inside and out and thoroughly pat dry. Remove the tail. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over medium heat and swirl it around to coat the wok.
Lower the duck into the wok breast side down, and let the skin brown and crisp up slightly. Spoon the oil over the parts of the duck that aren’t touching the oil. You will end up with a lot more oil than you started with, as the fat renders out of the duck. Turn off the heat. In a large pot over medium heat, add a tablespoon of the fat from the wok, and cook the ginger and garlic for about 1 minute. Stir in the sugar until it’s melted.

Add the cooking wine, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, rice vinegar, anise, cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, dried orange peels, 3 cups water and the duck. The liquid should come up about halfway up the duck. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 50-60 minutes, flipping the bird every 15 minutes to make sure it cooks evenly. Carefully lift the duck out and drain all the liquid from the cavity. Place the duck on a V-rack set on a baking sheet. Brush the duck all over with honey water. Set aside and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roast the duck for 12-15 minutes, until the skin is crispy. Watch it, to prevent burning. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Enjoy it.