People mostly eat duck when they go to restaurants and rarely cook it at home. This recipe is so easy, and makes the perfect dish for your Christmas table. It also takes advantage of our wonderful local stone fruit.
Ingredients for 4
- 1 semi-boneless butterflied duck (size 18–25)
- 50ml soy sauce
- 50ml dry sherry
- 50ml peanut oil
- 10ml sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon of ginger finely chopped
- West Australian lake salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
- 4 nectarines
Method
- Buy a semi-boneless duck that has the ribcage and crotch bones removed by ducking down to your favourite butcher. If you can’t, then just split a whole duck down its back and hit it with a meat mallet gently until it’s a flat, butterflied duck.
- Either way, salt and pepper your duck and rest it for 10 minutes while you mix the sauce ingredients in a deep, flat roasting dish. Now immerse your duck in the sauce, turning often over two hours (when I’m lazy I leave it in the fridge overnight).
- Now place the duck on a rack (skin side up) on a tray about 2cm deep and roast the duck at 200°C for about 30–40 minutes for semi boneless or 40–50 minutes for fully bone in. These cooking times are for a duck that is about 2kg (size 20). For larger ducks, cook longer and if you can’t stand pink duck flesh, then definitely cook longer, you unlucky duck you.
- The fat should cook off and leave the skin crispy with moist meat. The nectarine halves should be pan-fried at a gentle heat with a little marinade so that they get caramelised and a little soft. Duck with cooked nectarines is just yum. Boil the leftover marinade and serve it next to steamed rice and Chinese vegetables.
I take this opportunity to wish you the best for the festive season.
Buon Natale!
Vince is the proprietor of Mondos Butchers located at 824 Beaufort Street, Inglewood.
They are open Tuesday to Friday 9am – 5.30pm Saturday 9am to 2pm.
Phone 9371 6350 or visit www.mondo.net.au
