Roasted Duck

for a twist on moo shu preparations

I really enjoy cooking and eating duck. Here are a few pictures of a dish I made last week, based on the Chinese classic. I stuffed the duck with mirepoix, oranges and a little garlic all of which was tossed in a mixture of fresh thyme, bay leaf, five spice powder, fennel seed, whole cloves, chili flakes, cinnamon, black pepper and sea salt. I rubbed a little of the spice mixture on the outside of the skin, minimally trussed the bird, and used a skewer to "sew" for body cavity closed.
The neck, hearts and wings went into a sauce pan with a little white wine and some of the flavored mirepoix mixture. This barley simmered for a few hours until I had a perfectly clear, delightful stock. I reduced this stock and used it to moisten the shredded duck.
Here is the duck right out of the oven. I pricked the skin heavily with the tines of a dinner fork before cooking it. It was slow roasted at 325 for several hours until super tender. When it was well rested and cool enough to handle, I removed the meat and chopped/shredded it, mixing in a little bit of the most crispy skin. The five spice and orange flavors had infused the meat nicely.

Finally, it became this. Warmed, rolled into buckwheat crepes with hoisin sauce and served warm with a salad of Asian greens, bean sprouts and baby bok choy tossed in a simple orange and shallot vinaigrette. Delicious, if I do say so myself.