Well, I’ve been meaning to share this one for a (long) while now. I’ve put it off because I don’t think my photos look that good - it’s so much harder getting good dinner photos in winter in the dark!
I’ve decided that it’s such a beautiful, special and yet still simple recipe that I’m going to post it anyway and I’ll come back another time with new-and-improved pictures.
But for now, I don’t want to put off sharing it any longer.
This is a Rick Stein recipe that I confess I’ve never read or seen myself. One day - a while ago - a friend texted me that she was watching a Rick Stein programme and they were making an amazing duck in orange juice dish.
I googled it and didn’t actually come across the original recipe but did find several blogs sharing that recipe, so I read a couple of those. I read the recipes through and knew I needed to simplify it to work for me - I just won’t ever get round to getting a whole duck and having it jointed, for instance, but I really did want to make this recipe.
So here’s my simplified version of another blogger’s version of a Rick Stein recipe ….
This is for two people and you’ll need:
2 duck breasts
2 cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed and minced
a good piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated (probably around equal amount to the minced garlic)
Approx 1/2 litre orange juice (fresh with bits is good but normal orange juice in a carton will work too so don’t get hung up on it)
2-3 birds eye chillies - red is ideal but green is good too. First time I made this I diced them all and it was spicy - I think the original puts them all in whole to flavour the dish whilst cooking. This time I made it I sliced one and put the other two in whole (you can remove them at the end before eating)
2-3 star anise (and just how beautiful are they? I LOVE star anise)
2 tablespoons fish sauce (last night I didn’t have any so used light soy sauce and it was still good)
2 teaspoons granulated white sugar
chopped zest of a lime and the juice of half a lime (the original recipe says to use lemongrass but I didn’t have any so this is simpler)
ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon corn starch mixed with 1 teaspoon water
a few spring onions, chopped as garnish (the green part looks nicer, but I used the white part - another thing to change when I make it again and take new photos!)
Get all the ingredients together so you’re ready to go.
Put a good big-enough-to-cook-it-all-in non-stick pan over a medium high heat and add the duck breasts, skin side down.
Cook for 5-6 minutes until the skin is crisp then turn (carefully, it’s going to spit!) and cook on the other side for three minutes.
Turn off the heat and remove the duck breasts and put into a dish for now.
You only need a tablespoon or so of the duck breast oil now in the pan so spoon any extra away - you could keep in a jar to make roast potatoes another time.
Add the garlic and ginger into the pan with that duck oil and turn the heat back on. Cook on a low heat for 30 seconds or so, stirring all the time, until it just smells amazing!
Next add the orange juice, chillies, star anise, fish/soy sauce, sugar, lime zest and juice. Stir it all together and season with freshly ground black pepper.
Bring slowly to a nice gentle simmer and return the duck breasts to the pan.
Partially cover and simmer for about 40 minutes.
Check on it and perhaps turn the duck over and cook for another 15-20 minutes or so.
Take the duck pieces out and keep warm.
Skim off any fat on the surface and then turn the heat up and boil to reduce slightly (don’t do this if your sauce has already reduced enough of course). Add the corn starch in water, stir and simmer again for a couple of minutes.
And then serve this up in whatever way looks most delicious to you!
You could keep the duck breasts whole and put them on top of rice and ladle the sauce over, or you could slice them and pour the sauce over ….
Garnish with spring onions (the pretty green part ideally) and eat with rice.
This is such a gorgeous dish I really hope that you try it and like it.
