Roast Duck Recipe

(Vit Quay)

This dish, vit quay, is Vietnam's answer to Peking duck, although here the succulent, crispy bird is enjoyed in one course, whereas the Chinese specialty is served in three courses - the crispy skin, stir-fried meat, and a broth made from the carcass. Both the Chinese and Vietnamese covet the crispy, which makes the dish distinctive. In a Vietnamese home, the duck is served with pickled vegetables or a salad, several dipping sauces, and either a fragrant steamed rice or a stir-fried rice made using the duck offal.

Ingredients : Serves 4-6

1

90 g

4 cloves

1 stalk

4

For the marinade

80 ml

30 ml

30 ml

15 ml

5 ml

Duck, about 2.25 kg in weight

Fresh root ginger, peeled, roughly chopped and lightly crushed

Garlic, peeled and crushed

Lemon grass, halved and crushed

Spring onions (scallions), halved and crushed

Nuoc mam

Soy sauce

Honey

Five-spice powder

Ground ginger

Ginger dipping sauce, nuoc mam gung

Pickled vegetables and salad leaves, to serve

• In a bowl, beat the marinade ingredients together until the honey has dissolved. Using your fingers, rub the skin of the duck lightly to loosen it, until you can get your fingers between the skin and the meat.

• Rub the marinade all over the duck, inside its skin and out, then place it in the refrigerator for         24 hours. If any of the marinade drips into the tray, rub it back over the duck.

• Preheat the oven to 220^oC/425^oF/Gas 7. Stuff the ginger, garlic, lemon grass and spring onions into the duck's cavity and tie the legs with string. Using a bamboo or metal skewer, poke holes in the skin, including the legs.

• Place the duck, breast side down, on a rack over a roasting pan and cook it in the oven for            45 minutes, basting from time to time with the juices that have dripped into the pan.

• After 45 minutes, turn the duck over so that it is breast side up. Baste it generously and return it to the oven for a further 45 minutes, basting it every 15 minutes. The duck is ready once the juices run clear when the bird is pierced with a skewer.

• Serve immediately, pulling at the skin and meat with your fingers, rather than neatly carving it.

• Serve with ginger dipping sauce, nuoc mam gung, pickled vegetables and salad leaves for wrapping up the morsels.

Crisping the skin

It is essential to allow the duck to rest in the refrigerator for a day and a night to let the skin dry out so that it will become crispy when cooked.