Almond Roasted Duck With Chinese Spices Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Pat the duck dry and prick all over with a fork.
• Insert the garlic and orange wedges into the cavity of the duck.
• In a small bowl, combine the almond syrup, soy sauce, and 5-spice powder.
• Rub or brush the almond mixture onto the duck. Sprinkle the duck with salt and pepper and place the duck on a rack, breast side down, in a roasting pan.
• Roast the duck, breast side down, in a preheated oven for 40 minutes, then turn the duck, breast side up, and continue to roast for 1 hour.
• The skin should be dark and crispy.
• Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
• Serve the duck breast and legs whole for an elegant entree, or chop up the duck into bite-sized pieces and serve with spicy chutney as an appetizer.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, toss the almonds with the olive oil.
• Spread almonds out on a sheet pan in a single layer. (Keep the mixing bowl handy - you will need it again.)
• While oven heats, mix the spices, salt, and sugar in a small bowl; set aside.
• Bake almonds for 10 minutes.
• Remove pan from oven and carefully pour the hot almonds back into the mixing bowl.
• Sprinkle spices over the nuts and toss well with a spoon.
• Pour the seasoned almonds back onto the sheet pan and return to the oven for 5 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let nuts cool completely on pan.
• Store cooled nuts in a covered container.

Steps:

• Combine honey, soy sauce, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.
• In a large saucepan, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Meanwhile, remove giblets and neck from duck cavity and discard (or reserve for another use). Cut off excess fat from cavity and neck area, then cut off tail. (This helps balance the duck vertically over the beer can.)
• Using your fingers, carefully separate the skin from the breast meat through the bottom of the breasts and work your fingers upward to separate the skin from the meat (be careful not to tear skin). Next, separate the skin from the backbone through the neck and working your way down until you reach the legs. (Scissors are helpful, but be careful to avoid piercing the skin.) Transfer duck to a rack set in the sink.
• Using a ladle or measuring cup, pour half of the boiling water evenly over top of the duck. Flip duck and pour the remaining water evenly all over second side. Tilt duck to drain all water from the cavity, then pat dry with paper towels.
• In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder with 1 teaspoon salt, the black pepper and 1 tablespoon of the glaze. Rub the mixture inside the cavity. Stand duck vertically by inserting beer can into cavity and place in a roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining glaze all over the duck and sprinkle evenly with remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Place duck in the refrigerator, uncovered, until the skin feels dry and leathery, 24 hours.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees with rack in bottom third of oven. Remove duck from refrigerator, and add 1 1/2 cups water to the pan. Wrap wing tips and tips of drumsticks with foil to prevent burning, then loosely tent duck with foil. Roast for 15 minutes. Decrease temperature to 350 degrees and roast, tented with foil, until skin is mahogany and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes more, adding more water to the pan if needed.
• Leaving duck on the can, transfer duck vertically to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes. Carve the crispy skin from the back and legs of the duck, and slice into strips.
• Carefully remove duck from the beer can and return to cutting board. Carve off the breasts and legs; thinly slice the breasts and shred dark meat.
• Carefully strain pan juices into a small bowl and pour off all the fat. In another small bowl, whisk together the hoisin, sesame oil and up to 1/4 cup of the pan juices to form sauce.
• To serve, spread 1 tablespoon prepared sauce on each tortilla. Top each with some scallions, cucumbers, duck meat and crispy skin. Roll up and enjoy warm.