Description
Duck à l’Orange is a classic French dish featuring succulent roasted duck paired with a rich, tangy orange sauce. The recipe involves roasting the duck to crispy perfection and preparing a flavorful sauce made from reduced stock, caramelized sugar, vinegar, and fresh orange juice, resulting in a beautiful balance of sweet and savory flavors that complement the richness of the duck.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Duck:
- 1 whole duck (about 5 pounds; 2.25kg)
- Vegetable oil, for drizzling
- Kosher salt
For the Sauce:
- 1 medium carrot, diced
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 large celery rib, diced
- 2 quarts (2 liters) brown beef or brown chicken stock (see note)
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) tomato paste (optional)
- 4 ounces (115g) granulated sugar (about 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon)
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- Zest of 1 navel orange or 2 bitter oranges, cleaned of any white pith and cut into a fine julienne
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) fresh navel orange juice or 1/4 cup (60ml) bitter orange juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (omit if using bitter orange juice)
- Freshly ground white or black pepper
- 2 tablespoons (30g) cold unsalted butter
- Cornstarch or arrowroot (optional, only if needed)
Instructions
- Prepare the Duck: If desired, spatchcock the duck by removing the backbone with poultry shears and flattening the breast. Trim excess skin around the neck and cavity, remove wing tips, neck, and giblets, setting aside trimmings for the sauce or other uses.
- Prick the Skin: Using a sharp knife, prick the duck skin all over, especially where the skin is thickest, being careful not to pierce the meat underneath. This helps render fat during cooking.
- Blanch the Duck: Wearing heat-proof gloves, dip the duck into boiling water for 2 minutes to tighten the skin. Drain and place breast side up on a wire rack over a baking sheet.
- Season and Rest: Season the duck inside and out generously with kosher salt. Refrigerate uncovered for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours for the skin to dry and flavors to develop.
- Roast Trimmings and Vegetables: Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Toss the trimmed wings, neck, and optional backbone with diced carrot, onion, celery, and a drizzle of vegetable oil (and tomato paste if using). Roast on a baking sheet, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 25 minutes.
- Make the Stock Base: Transfer roasted trimmings and vegetables to a large saucepan with brown stock. Add boiling water to the roasting pan to deglaze and pour into the saucepan. Simmer gently, skimming fat and scum, until reduced by half, about 1 to 2 hours.
- Strain and Reduce Stock: Strain the stock through a fine mesh and continue to simmer the strained stock until reduced to about 1 cup (225ml), about 1 to 1.5 hours. Keep skimming and watching carefully to avoid burning.
- Roast the Duck: Increase oven temperature to 450°F (230°C). Roast the duck on the wire rack for 30 minutes to crisp the skin, then reduce oven to 300°F (150°C) and continue roasting until an internal temperature of 175°F (79°C) is reached in the thickest parts, about 45 minutes for spatchcocked or 1 hour for whole duck. Rest the duck after roasting.
- Prepare the Gastrique: In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1/4 cup water over medium heat. Stir until boiling, then simmer without stirring until a deep amber caramel forms. Remove from heat and carefully add red wine vinegar in small increments while swirling to prevent boil-over. Return to heat, boil then simmer until slightly reduced and smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Blanch Orange Zest: Boil about 1 cup water and blanch orange zest until softened (2 minutes for navel orange, 15 minutes for bitter orange). Drain and set aside.
- Reheat Duck: Just before serving, return the duck to the oven for 5 to 15 minutes to heat through and re-crisp skin if needed.
- Finish the Sauce: Add orange and lemon juices (or bitter orange juice) to reduced stock and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add gastrique teaspoon by teaspoon until balanced sweet and sour flavor is achieved. Season with salt and pepper.
- Enrich Sauce with Butter: Off the heat on very low setting, whisk in cold butter until sauce is smooth and glossy. If sauce is too thin, stir a cornstarch or arrowroot slurry into the sauce and simmer gently to thicken.
- Infuse Sauce with Zest: Add blanched orange zest and gently simmer over low heat for 1 minute, stirring constantly to infuse flavor.
- Serve: Carve the duck and serve with the warm orange sauce spooned on top or alongside.
Notes
- The sauce balances sweet and sour elements to cut through the duck’s richness perfectly.
- Spatchcocking helps the duck cook more evenly and faster but is optional.
- Using tomato paste in roasting vegetables and duck trimmings helps achieve a deeper stock color.
- Careful control of caramelization and gradual vinegar addition prevents bitterness or boil-over in the gastrique.
- The recipe yields extra gastrique sauce, which can be saved for use on grilled or roasted vegetables or in other dishes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of duck with sauce
- Calories: 2323 kcal
- Sugar: 41 g
- Sodium: 1525 mg
- Fat: 176 g
- Saturated Fat: 61 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 56 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 121 g
- Cholesterol: 506 mg
