Crispy Chinese duck with peaches

• duck↗1

  about 2-2.5kg/4lb 8oz-5lb 8oz

• peach↗1
• Chinese five-spice powder2 tsp tsp
• Sichuan pepper2 tsp tsp
• sea salt↗2 tsp tsp
• jasmine rice↗

  and shredded spring onions, to serve

• peaches↗5

  halved and stoned

• honey↗2 tbsp tbsp
• Japanese or rice wine vinegar2 tbsp tbsp
• sesame oil↗3 tbsp tbsp
• chopped ginger2 tbsp tbsp
• hoisin sauce6 tbsp tbsp
• toasted sesame seed2 tsp tsp

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Heat oven to 140 °C/120 °C fan/gas 1. Prick the duck skin all over with a fork – don’t go too deep or you’ll puncture the meat instead and lose all the juices during cooking. Push the whole peach up into the duck’s cavity, neatly tuck in any excess fat and tie the legs together with string. Using a pestle and mortar, grind together the Chinese five-spice, Sichuan pepper and sea salt. Rub all over the duck and sit, breast-side down, on a rack in a roasting tin. Roast for 3 hrs.

2. 2

   Meanwhile, put the peaches, cut-side up, in a snug-ish ovenproof dish. Mix the honey, vinegar, sesame oil, ginger and hoisin with 3 tbsp water. Pour over the peaches, then scatter over the sesame seeds.

3. 3

   Lift the duck out of the oven and drain off any fat in the tin. Turn up the oven to 200 °C/180 °C fan/gas 6 and flip the duck over so it is now breast-side up. Roast for 30 mins more, with the peaches on the shelf below, until the duck is brown and crispy and the peaches are tender. Serve with jasmine rice and shredded spring onions.