I want to make Cantonese-style roasted duck but a whole-duck is too much for me and I have only a small oven so I want to try using the thigh or breast only.
My problem is I can't make the layer of fat underneath the skin melt down. With a
whole-duck recipe you roast the duck at medium-high temp for 2-4 hours,
but because I use only part of the duck, if I do that the meat-side will dry out.
Here is what I tried:
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Using fingers, separate skin and meat (still intact end-part), stripes diamond pattern
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Brine duck part for 1-2 hour (with salt, sugar, water, soy sauce, ginger, garlic)
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Boil water with distilled vinegar, honey, red coloring then pour over skin-side, skin tighten up
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Rub with baking powder, uncover in fridge to dry the skin
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I tried this step two ways:
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first time I roasted with convection oven 140 c, still fatty skin
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second,used aluminum foil wrapped all over meat-part, uncover the skin-part in fridge 48 hours, roasted, not better than first one, skin still thick but cracking (skin too dry?)
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How can I get the skin to be thin and the fat to melt?
Best Answer
The secret is in varying the temperature. Toss the pieces in baking powder or corn starch and fine salt, with or without other dry seasonings. In a non-convection oven, bake first at 120°C/250°F for 30 minutes to melt the fat and thin the skin layer, then at 220°C/425°F for 40 to 45 minutes to "crispy it up."