crispy, crispy duck

I know I'll not replicate the delight of the crispy roast duck that good chinese restaurants do so well, but I've got a bit of a hankering for something like that, so I'm doing a simple version of the dish for LW and I. In my version, the duck is scored, seasoned with salt and 5-spice mixture, and then placed on an "onion rack" of quartered onions in a roasting dish and roasted for about 2.5 hours at 170 degC.

just ready for the off...

Every so often the rendered fat needs draining off (and keeping for roasting potatoes) to allow the air to get to the skin as much as possible.

2.5 hours later. That skin is crispy!

Once the duck is tender enough to pull apart, I will do so. And I'm going to serve it with a hoisin kind of sauce, with shredded cucumber and spring onion. I'd love to serve it in little steamed pancakes, but I haven't found any to buy (I totally forgot when we were in Auckland last week- I was even at an Asian supermarket) so I'm going to use Iceberg lettuce leaves instead.

I've a little salad left over from last night- carrot, cucumber and toasted sesame seeds and peanuts with a sweet and sour dressing, so I might rejuvenate it and serve that with the duck. We won't need anything else and I may even get a duck stock out of the bones!

shreddy, ready and delicious!