Chinese roast duck with pancakes

• oven-ready duck1
• Chinese five-spice2 tsp tsp
• star anise2
• orange↗1

  peel cut off in strips, then orange halved

• Chinese black vinegar↗2 tbsp tbsp

  (we used Merchant Gourmet) (optional)

• Shaohsing rice wine↗75ml ml

  or dry Sherry

• chicken stock↗100ml ml
• Chinese pancakes30

  (shop-bought or see 'Goes well with' for a recipe)

• spring onions↗6

  cut into finger lengths and shredded, ½ cucumber, cut into matchsticks, hoisin sauce, to serve

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Loosen the skin on the duck by wriggling first your fingers, then your hand between it and the flesh until it pulls away – be careful not to break the skin. Trim off any excess fat from cavity and skin around the neck. Rub the skin all over with the five-spice plus a good sprinkling of salt. Put the duck in a roasting tin and push the star anise, orange peel and orange halves inside. Spoon the vinegar, rice wine and stock into the cavity, don’t worry if it spills out again. Cover the roasting tin with a tent of foil and cook for 2 hrs.

2. 2

   Turn oven up to 240C/220C fan/gas 7. Take foil off, pour off any juices (keep for the noodles, see 'Goes well with') and return duck to the oven for 30-40 mins or until the skin is browned and crisp.

3. 3

   Once cooked let it rest for 10 mins. Slice off the breasts and shred meat and skin. Pile onto a plate, keeping meat and skin separate. Keep warm in a low oven, covering meat with foil to stop it drying out but skin uncovered to crisp it further. (Remove the rest of the meat in chunks for the noodles - see 'Goes well with'.)

4. 4

   Heat the pancakes and serve the duck with accompaniments.