Enjoy Crispy Duck With Homemade Plum & Apricot Sauce

(Guest Post) Most of us enjoy eating duck in restaurants, but why not try making your own delicious crispy duck with homemade plum and apricot sauce? It’s easy to cook so won’t get you too hot in the kitchen. If you are interested, read on!

(Ingredients)
For the duck:
1 tablespoon of groundnut oil, 2 duck breasts, skin scored in a criss-cross pattern and salad leaves to serve.

For the marinade:
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce, 4 tablespoons of grated fresh root ginger, 2 tablespoons of dry sherry or Shaoxing rice wine, 6 whole star anise, 2 tablespoons of ground Sichuan peppercorns and an optional pinch of salt to taste.

For the plum and apricot sauce: juice from 1 lime, 1 whole star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 tablespoon of honey, 100ml or 3½fl oz water, 2oz or 50g of chopped dried apricots, 2 plums with their stones removed and quartered and 2½ tablespoons of caster sugar.

Method:

1. Start with the marinade by placing all the ingredients for the marinade into a bowl and whisk well to mix.
2. Next, for the duck, place the marinade into a bowl with the duck and cover with cling film. Leave to marinate in the fridge for around 25 minutes and preheat the oven to Gas 6/400F/200C.
3. Heat your wok until it’s smoking and add the groundnut oil. Add the duck skin side down and fry between 4-5 minutes until the skin is brown and crisp. Skin side up, transfer the duck onto a baking tray and cook in the oven for 3-4 minutes, or until cooked to your taste.
4. To make the plum and apricot sauce, put the water into a small saucepan and boil. Then add the cinnamon stick, honey, sugar, plums, apricots and star anise and cook on a medium heat until reduce to a sticky sauce.
5. Take the pan off the heat and strain through a sieve to discard the spices and mix in the lime juice.
6. Now the duck is ready to serve with the sauce poured over it, alongside the salad.

This recipe serves 2 people and only takes 30 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook! It’s mouth-watering good, let us know what you think and how you get on in the kitchen.