I may have said this before but we are very partial to Asian food.

One of our favourites is Peking (or crispy) Duck. Now it is very easy to send out for a takeaway or buy the heat and eat versions from supermarkets, but it is much more satisfying to make it yourself; apart from the rice paper rolls which we brought from the local Chinese supermarket.

This is a mixture of a couple of different recipes putting together, in my view, the best way to make the duck and sauce. Serves two just nicely.

Ingredients:

• 2 duck breasts
• 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
• 1 tablespoon honey or agave syrup
• Spring onions – shredded
• Cucumber – Use a potato peeler then cut into matchsticks
• The Sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon groundnut (peanut) or sunflower oil
  • 6 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 5 tablespoons caster sugar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce – preferably dark
  • 1 tablespoon cornflower

Method

1. Place the duck, skin side up, on a rack over the sink and pour a kettle of boiling water over the skin – pat dry
2. Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan/gas 4
3. Mix the honey and five spice and brush it all over the duck – let it dry for a bit then, if you have any left, brush over the rest of the glaze.
4. Place duck in to a roasting tin and roast for 25-35 minutes – you don’t need any oil as the duck fat will provide that for you
5. Whilst waiting for the duck add all of the sauce ingredients, except the cornflower, in to a pan over a medium heat, and stir together with 100ml water. Heat until it starts to boil. Mix the cornflower in a tablespoon of water then remove the pan from the heat and stir it in to the sauce mix. Back on the heat and stir until the sauce thickens to your taste. Allow to cool.
   1. Note: these ingredients will give you enough for a couple of uses. I bottled half of it in the empty hoisin sauce bottle.
6. Once the duck is done to your liking put it on a board to rest for a while then slice or shred it.
7. Enjoy it

Take care out there folks