Half duck, Sichuan peppercorns, aniseed (star anise), cinnamon, green onions, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, honey, salt, vinegar

Method:

1. Spread a layer of salt evenly on the duck and let it sit for 15 minutes.

2. Use this time to take a pot, pour half of the pot of water into it, add 15 ml of dark soy sauce, 6 grams of salt, 4 grams of sugar, 20 peppercorns, and a small piece of cinnamon. Two aniseed (star anise), some green onion and ginger. When the water is boiling, turn off the heat and set aside. The reason why we put the ingredients in the pot to heat it is so that the flavor of the spices inside can be better brought out, but be careful not to boil it.

3. We put the delicious duck into the pot with the seasoning and soak it for 12 hours. We must remember to turn it over in the middle.

4. After 12 hours, we boil a pot of water. After the water boils, we pour hot water on the skin of the duck to shrink all the pores on the duck skin. You must be patient in this step. Otherwise it will affect the taste of roast duck.

5. Make a bowl of sauce to apply on the duck skin. This sauce is made up of one teaspoon of honey, two teaspoons of dark soy sauce and two teaspoons of vinegar and mix thoroughly. The purpose of adding honey and dark soy sauce is to color the duck, and the purpose of adding vinegar is to give the duck skin a crispy texture when roasted.

6. Brush the duck that has been cooked for 12 hours with the sauce prepared in “5”. Repeat several times.

7. Air-dry the brushed duck until the skin is dry to the touch. My personal drying time is about 7 hours. This step is also very important. If you want the skin of the roast duck to be crispy, then you must air-dry the skin of the duck. (This picture shows the dried duck.)

8. Use tin foil to wrap the less meaty parts of the duck wings and duck legs to prevent them from burning during baking. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees and bake the duck for 50 minutes, brushing twice with the sauce in "5". It should also be noted that the meat near the duck belly is relatively thin. If the skin near the duck belly is too dark, we will cover it with a piece of tin foil, making sure the smooth side faces up. When the duck is baked for 40 minutes, we remove the tin foil from the surface of the duck and bake for another 10 minutes.