Aside from the bones to make a soup later, this is the last of our whole duck that we bought a few weeks ago. We’ve made some pretty varied meals with the meat…Duck Jalfrezi, Duck Giblet Pasties, Duck Breast with Cherry Pecan Sauce, and Peppered Duck Wings. This time, we decided to feature some Asian flavours, and marinate our duck leg in a brine of soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes. In the end, it developed a rich flavour, a crispy skin, and an overall adequate entree.
We served our duck with Sesame Blistered Peppers and brown rice noodles. However, this would also likely go very well with sauteed bok choy or broccoli and a wasabi infused mashed potato.
Time: 40 Minutes (Plus marination time)
Ingredients:
- Duck Legs
- For the Marinade:
- Soy Sauce
- Water (1 part water per 1 part soy sauce)
- Sugar (don’t skimp too much since you want the sugars to balance out the soy sauce)
- Fresh Ginger
- Fresh Garlic
- Red Pepper Flakes
Method:
- Assemble your marinade in a bowl by combining all of the marinade ingredients and whisking to combine.
- Place your duck legs in a zip top bag, and pour your marinade over them. Let sit for at least an hour. We recommend marinating the night before and stashing the bag in the fridge.
- When you’re ready to cook, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
- Start to heat a cast iron pan big enough to fit all of your duck legs.
- While the pan heats, remove your duck legs from the marinade. Carefully, cut cross-hatches into the duck skin so that it can render. Try not to cut through the skin or into the meat.
- When the cast iron pan is hot (if you toss a spritz of water in, it should sizzle and evaporate pretty much immediately), place your duck skin side down, and let it cook for about 5 minutes.
- When the skin is golden brown, flip your duck legs, and throw the pan into your oven.
- Roast for about 20-30 minutes or until your duck legs reach a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees F (going over is no problem with this method, so don’t worry about that…it’s hard to overcook this one. Ours came out of the oven at 185F, and it was still juicy).
- Plate, devour, and enjoy!
