Ken Hom likes to dry his duck the traditional way: He hangs it in front of a fan at cool room temperature for 1 day. In keeping with U.S. food-safety standards, we've adapted his technique for the refrigerator, with excellent results. The Pekin (Long Island) duck available in the U.S. has a thicker layer of fat than the French variety, but we were still able to roast away most of the fat layer, leaving mahogany-colored crisp skin.
Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 3 1/2 days
Recipe information
Total Time
3 1/2 days
Yield
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
For honey syrup
For duck
Preparation
Make syrup:
Step 1
Bring syrup ingredients to a boil in a heavy saucepan, stirring, then simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.
Season duck:
Step 2
While syrup is simmering, fold neck skin of duck under body and fasten with a small skewer.
Step 3
Stir together five-spice powder, salt, and pepper, then rub inside cavity. Put duck on a rack set in a roasting pan.
Coat and dry duck:
Step 4
Ladle hot syrup over duck (do not ladle any into cavity), turning duck occasionally to coat all over. Discard syrup in roasting pan and set duck, breast side up, on rack in pan. Prop rack up over a short edge of pan so duck is tilted (large-cavity side down) to facilitate draining of any moisture it gives off. (To prevent rack from slipping, put a piece of crumpled plastic wrap between pan and rack.)
Step 5
Dry duck, uncovered and chilled in refrigerator, 3 days.
Roast duck:
Step 6
Preheat oven to 325°F. Let duck stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
Step 7
Remove plastic wrap and set rack back into pan. Stuff duck with orange quarters and ginger and close cavity opening with a wooden skewer. Prick duck all over with tip of a sharp paring knife and pour 1 cup water into pan.
Step 8
Roast duck in middle of oven 1 1/2 hours. Increase oven temperature to 450°F and roast until skin is dark brown and very crisp and a thermometer inserted in thick part of thigh registers 170°F, 25 to 30 minutes more.
Step 9
Transfer duck to a heated serving platter and remove cavity skewer. Let stand 30 minutes before carving.
