Over the years we have cooked duck breast for dinner many times. One our favourite ways to prepare this is the Gingery duck salad recipe by Nigella Lawson. However, this week we decided to try something different. The choice fell on a whole fresh duck that we roasted using a mix of orange, honey, soya sauce and Chinese five spice. It turned out really nice!

Ingredients (for 6 persons)

• fresh duck, approx. 3 kg
• 1 orange, cut in pieces (note! you need 2 oranges for the recipe)
• 1 tsp five spice powder
• 1 tsp salt

For the Glaze

• juice of 1 orange
• 40 – 50 gms honey
• 20 ml soya sauce

Putting it together

The day before

The duck skin should be air dried as well as possible. It helps to buy the duck in advance and remove any plastic packing etc. Clean off any feathers etc. and pat the skin down with kitchen paper. Cut off the narrow tips of the wings so that they do not burn when roasting. Place the duck on a metal rack over a baking pan and leave overnight in the fridge.

On the day

About 4 hours before serving, take the duck out from the fridge. Using a sharp knife, score the skin gently, without cutting into the flesh. This helps to release the fat under the skin during the roasting.

Heat the oven to 180 C.

Mix the salt and five spice powder and sprinkle well on the outside and the insides of the duck. Cut one orange into about 12 pieces (4 quarters x 3 pieces each) – if the oranges are organic. If not, then carefully cut away the outermost layer of the skin before cutting the orange into pieces. Place the pieces into the cavity of the duck. Tie the legs together with twine for a nicer look after roasting. Place the duck on a metal rack over a baking tray. This will allow the fat to drain off the bird and into the tray. Put the duck into the heated oven, using the lower rail. Roast for 30 mins at 180C.

While the duck is roasting, mix the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan and heat gently on medium heat to thicken slightly. Once the duck has been in the oven for 30 mins, take it out and baste the whole duck with the glaze, using a pastry brush. Apply the glaze well covering the breast, sides, legs and wings. Return to the oven and roast for 30 mins.

Now, repeat the glazing and roasting process 5 times, roasting the duck for 15 mins each time. If the skin starts to get too burned then lower the heat to 170 – 175C. The total roasting time should be not more than 2 hours and 15 mins. Remove from the oven, and leave to rest for 15 mins before carving.

While the duck is resting, pour the fat and juices collected in the baking tray to the remainder of the glaze in the saucepan. Leave to settle for a few minutes and spoon off the fat collected at the top of the pan. Heat the glaze mixture gently to thicken. Note! You can save the fat for roasting potatoes or brussels sprouts later.

Finally, carve the duck and drizzle over a little of the glaze mixture before serving. The remainder of this mixture can be served as a sauce for the rice or potatoes that go with this dish. We served jasmine rice and bok choy in garlic sauce with the duck. The sauce based on the glaze mixture worked great with the rice.