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Impossibly easy Roast Duck

Christine Cole

When I tried Mark Bittman’s NY Times Cooking recipe for Easy Roast Duck I was skeptical. How could cooking a whole duck be THIS simple AND taste Flaweless? I mean the only ingredients are duck, pepper and soy sauce!! No marinading? No drying for 48 hours hanging in your refrigerator? No complicated orange lacquer?

“The skin is not gonna be crispy”, I thought.

I was wrong! This recipe is simple and delicious and the hack for using soy sauce to crisp up the skin is brilliant.

The one thing I will say is that if you’re cooking this for a dinner party like I did, roast one duck for every two people. Or make a generous amount of sides to ensure everyone has enough to enjoy.

Pinot Noir is always a safe-bet pairing for roast duck and my selection of the Fleur de California Carneros Select Pinot Noir 2019 was Flaweless. There’s a mouthful of ripe berries and a harmonious combination of acidity and structure. The wine almost felt like the sauce I didn’t have to make for the duck. 💃🏻

Impossibly easy Roast Duck

INGREDIENTS

1 4- to 5-pound duck

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup soy sauce

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove giblets and neck from duck cavity and discard. Cut off excess fat from duck cavity.

  2. Using paper towels dry the skin as best you can. Tie the legs closed so that they hold their shape while roasting but not so tight that you cut off the air flow to the cavity.

  3. Place duck, breast side down (wings up), on a rack in a roasting pan; add water to come just below the rack. Sprinkle duck with pepper and brush with a bit of the soy sauce.

  4. Roast 30 minutes. Remove duck from oven being careful not to swish around the water (you don't want to get the duck wet).

  5. Prick the back all over with point of a sharp knife, then flip bird onto its back. Sprinkle with pepper and brush with soy sauce again. Add a little more water to the pan if the juices are spattering.

  6. Roast 20 minutes, then prick the breast all over , and brush with soy sauce. Roast 10 minutes; brush with soy sauce. Roast 5 or 10 minutes more if necessary, or until duck is a glorious brown all over and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thigh measures at least 155 degrees. Let rest 5 minutes before carving and serving.