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Rachel Khoo Cooks The Perfect...Roast Duck Wraps

When I was testing this recipe it was Chinese New Year and I started thinking about the Chinese love of crispy duck. The roasted grapes in this dish are blended to make a sweet sauce, similar to the Chinese plum sauce. Wrap it all in a lettuce leaf with some crunchy cucumber and crisp fresh leeks, and you’ve got Asian-style French duck!

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Ingredients

Serves 4

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 2 hours

2 duck legs

salt

1 tbsp white pepper

250g seedless red grapes or prunes

100ml Sauternes wine, or other sweet white wine

½ cucumber or 1 small cucumber, washed, halved lengthways and seeds removed

1 small leek

2 tbsp olive oil

juice of ½ a lemon

a pinch of sugar

1 tsp hot chilli sauce

1 romaine or iceberg lettuce, washed and leaves separated

Preparation Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Season the duck legs liberally with salt and pepper and rub into the skin. Place the duck legs in a baking dish with the grapes and wine. Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1½ hours. Increase the heat to 200°C then remove the foil and cook for a further 30 minutes (if the skin starts to brown too quickly, turn down the heat or remove from the oven).

While the duck is cooking prepare the salad. Cut the cucumber into 1cm cubes and slice the leek into thin rings. Soak the leek in a bowl of water for 5 minutes to remove any grit. Drain and dry with kitchen towel before placing in a bowl with the cucumber. Toss with the oil, lemon juice and sugar and season with salt.

Once the duck is cooked, remove from the tray and wrap in foil while you prepare the sauce. Put all the grapes and a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquid in a blender and blitz to a smooth paste. Add chilli sauce and salt, to taste.

Peel the skin off the duck and chop it up. Shred or cut the meat from the bone. Serve the skin and meat with the salad, sauce and lettuce leaves and let everyone help themselves.

Les petites astuces – tips The lettuce leaves can be replaced with the Chinese pancakes traditionally eaten with duck.