Five Spice Roasted Duck
The main event at Thanksgiving dinner is the turkey. I know that turkey is a Thanksgiving tradition, but I REALLY don’t like turkey. I think it’s dry and has no flavor. So I wanted to reimagine the center piece of the dinner and decided to go duck. Yes it is unorthodox but in Asian culture, ducks are eaten in times of celebration. And I think there is definitely a lot to celebrate and be thankful for this year even if it doesn’t seem like it. This is actually the first time I’ve ever made duck, and I honestly don’t know what I was waiting for. It has so much flavor and I absolutely love how easy it was to make. This is my recipe for five spice roasted duck.
Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments
Roasted Duck
- Duck – I used 1 whole 4-5 pound duck for this recipe.
- Five spice powder & salt – The combination of five spice and salt create the marinade for this duck recipe. The five spice adds flavor, and the salt seasons and draws out the moisture of the duck. You can buy five spice powder or make it from scratch! Use this recipe to make it at home.
- Yellow onions & shallots – Sweet yellow onions and shallots add flavor to this duck. A good substitute for both is white onions.
- Thyme – Adds a herbaceous flavor to this duck. You can also substitute or add on sage and rosemary.
Tea Soy Sauce Glaze
This glaze is the perfect balance of umami, salty, and sweet. It is made with a combination of soy sauce, earl grey tea, mirin, rice wine vinegar, coriander, fennel, and star anise. To make this glaze gluten free, substitute tamari for soy sauce. You can also use any kind of black tea and vinegar for this recipe.
What is five spice powder?
Five spice powder is something that is associated with Asian cuisine, specifically Chinese and Taiwanese cuisine. It is made up of a mixture of 5 spices like its name suggests: star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, and fennel seeds. These are the most common spices included in five spice powder but there are variations that include a variety of different spices like anise seeds, ginger root, and nutmeg. I used Simply Organic’s five spice powder which includes cinnamon, fennel, cloves, star anise, and white pepper.
Five spice powder is a great spice in both sweet and savory dishes. It is most commonly used with poultry like for this duck recipe or with chicken. I also like to use it with meatier fish like salmon.
Making my five spice roasted duck
The first step is to marinate and dry out the duck as much as possible. So first, pat dry the duck. Combine five spice powder and salt. Rub the entire duck with the five spice powder mixture. Make sure to rub the seasoning in the cavity of the duck as well. Let it marinate in the fridge overnight.
The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Next, get out a roasting pan. Add the cut up onions and thyme sprigs to the bottom of the pan. Stuff the shallots into the duck and place it on top. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. While the duck is roasting, make the glaze. Combine all the ingredients into a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer until half the liquid remains. Remove from the heat and set aside.
After 1 1/2 hours, remove the aluminum foil. Brush the glaze over the duck and bake for another 30 minutes uncovered until the center is 165 degrees F. Add a new layer of glaze after 15 minutes. Rest duck for 5 minutes before serving.
Tips on how to make the perfect roasted duck
Rest the duck after roasting for the best results
If you don’t rest the duck before serving, all the juices will flow out once you cut into the duck, and you will get dry meat. Resting allows all the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, making for a juicier outcome. This concept actually applies to all meats.
Use leftover drippings and aromatics for a quick sauce
I did not include this in the recipe below, but you can use the leftover stuff in the roasting pan for a simple sauce. I whipped up a quick sauce by adding some wine, lemon juice, and a little bit of sugar, and then reducing it until it thickens. It tastes soooo good drizzled over the duck.
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If you made this dish, I would love to see!
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Get the Recipe:
Five Spice Roasted Duck
Ingredients
Roasted Duck
- 1 duck, 4-5lbs
- 2 tbsp five spice powder
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 yellow onions, cut into chunks
- 3 shallots
- 15 sprigs thyme
Tea Soy Sauce Glaze
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp earl grey tea
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp fennel
- 2 star anise
Equipment
Instructions
- Pat dry the duck. Combine five spice powder and salt. Rub the entire duck with the five spice powder mixture. Make sure to rub the seasoning in the cavity of the duck as well.
- Let the duck marinate in the fridge overnight.
- The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Next, get out a roasting pan. Add the cut up onions and thyme sprigs to the bottom of the pan. Stuff the shallots into the duck and place it on top. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.
- While the duck is roasting, make the glaze. Combine all the ingredients into a sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer until half the liquid remains. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- After 1 1/2 hours, remove the aluminum foil. Brush the glaze over the duck and bake for another 30 minutes uncovered until the center is 165 degrees F. Add a new layer of glaze after 15 minutes.
- Rest duck for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Rest the duck after roasting for the best results – If you don’t rest the duck before serving, all the juices will flow out once you cut into the duck, and you will get dry meat. Resting allows all the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, making for a juicier outcome. This concept actually applies to all meats.
- Use leftover drippings and aromatics for a quick sauce – I did not include this in the recipe below, but you can use the leftover stuff in the roasting pan for a simple sauce. I whipped up a quick sauce by adding some wine, lemon juice, and a little bit of sugar, and then reducing it until it thickens. It tastes soooo good drizzled over the duck.
We made this yesterday for Christmas with a 4-1/2 pound duck. You didn’t mention scoring the skin but every other recipe did, so we did that like we usually have done in the past. (We have been making duck each year for several years, but never 5 spice duck). Then the rub, etc. We baked for one and a half hours covered at 350 and then uncovered it and….the skin was soft and rubbery – so we began the glazing and baked, glazing it twice for another 1/2 hour as directed. The skin never got crisp, and although the instant thermometer read 165 when we took it out, the meat was overdone and not at all pink. Total failure.
Thanks for making the recipe and sharing your experience.
Making this dish now. Just made the glaze. I would recommend using low sodium soy sauce. It seems really salty in the pan.
Thanks for sharing your insights!
All done and done to perfection. Thanks for the recipe.
Amazing! Glad you enjoyed it!
My duck is in the oven! For the wine at the end, is it red or white?!!
red! Let me know how it goes!
Thank you so much for answering! I’m sorry to say my duck was a dud. Maybe I should have slit the skin before cooking so that the flavors got into the meat. After all those wonderful ingredients, I would have expected some pungent deliciousness. I will try some of your other recipes. (BTW, I used a combo of black soy and regular, my star anise was old so I used one extra piece, and I used black vinegar.) I am going to attempt a soup with the leftover meat and carcass.
Sorry it didn’t work out for you 🙁
My family said this is in their top 3 all time meals I have made. They are the entire duck in one serving and were disappointed I didn’t have more. Made with baked potatoes and cut the potatoes in half. Dipped them in the pan sauce and served. Easy to follow recipe with amazing results!
Hi Jennifer. Thank you so much for making this recipe! I can’t believe your family said this is one of their top 3 all time meals. That’s huge praise!
Did you grind the coriander, star annise, and fennel for the glaze, or leave whole?
I left them whole. The spices are used to flavor the glaze only.
The flavor in this duck is amazing! I used these ingredients, but cooked the duck in our air fryer for 50 minutes at 300°. My kids devoured this and complemented it the whole time they were eating!
Hi Jenny! When the kids like it, you know you have a winner on your hands. I’m so glad they enjoyed it! 🙂
I’ve just marinaded my duck to leave overnight to envelop the flavours!
I’m serving my daughter, son in law and their two gorgeous kids tomorrow here in Portugal.
LOVE duck so am very excited with this amazing recipe – usually slow roast with orange sauce – a new departure! Thanks for this recipe – I’ll feedback whenever!
Paddy
Thank you so much! I hope you and your family enjoy it 🙂 Let me know how it turns out!
Turned out great, and I didn’t even have time to marinate it over night. I chopped the onions into smaller pieces for the wine sauce. Great way to use the duck we had.
Hi Ada. Thank you for making the recipe! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
The flavor of this duck was great and the meat was super tender; however, the glaze left the skin soft and rubbery. The following day I reheated the duck in the air fryer which assisted a bit with the skin texture. Overall it was good, but I missed the opportunity for some crispy crackly duck skin.
Thanks for the feedback!
Hi there, just wanted to say thanks for this recipe. I roast a duck on Christmas and wanted to try something different this year. This was a great hassle-free recipe (dry brine instead of wet, etc) that IMO came out much better than the fussier recipe I’d been using the last couple years. I omitted a couple components I didn’t have on hand (fresh thyme, tea, coriander, star anise), and it was still very flavorful. I did have to cook the duck a bit longer, but I have a small older oven, and a meat thermometer took the guesswork out of it. Cheers, and happy holidays.
Thank you for making the recipe and so glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Happy Holidays!
For the glaze, do you use ground Fennel seed or Fennel seeds?
I use fennel seeds!
hello,
I’m cooking half a duck. Ok to put all onions + herbs underneath before covering? will cooking time be affected?
Yes that’s fine! I would cut the time in half.
Offer any side dish ideas for this duck asian for Thanksgiving dinner
Hi Teresa! This duck definitely goes best with white rice since it has such strong savory flavors. A great Thanksgiving side that’s a personal favorite of mine and would go well with the duck is my Shiitake Mushroom Stuffing. It’s great on it’s own as well as paired with other dishes.
This recipe is a winner for Thanksgiving ..as suggested, I substituted sprigs of fresh rosemary and sage for the thyme and baked a 6.5 lb duck using same measurements for sauce and it was fabulous..just glazed twice and a bit longer cooking time. I served with Curried Pumpkin soup, white rice, and green beans and marinated cucumbers. Thanks Becca!!
That sounds like an amazing spread. Thank you so much for making my recipe! I hope you and your family had an amazing Thanksgiving 🙂
Hi my duck is in the fridge marinating!! Really looking forward to this. 2 Questions can Call substitute the earl grey for normal tea? Also what would you suggest as accompaniments please?
Hi Jane! Yes you can use any tea you want but I highly recommend some sort of black tea for the best flavor. I think the best accompaniments are rice (any kind but I prefer white) and some sort of fresh vegetable or salad to balance out the duck. Personally, I like fresh cucumbers :).
Thank you that’s exactly what I will do then. I will let you know how I get on thank you.
I raise my own ducks (pekins & muscovy) and after the first time I tried this recipe I never looked back, it’s in my favorites and the only one I use which has been nearly a dozen times. Tomorrow I am going to try it on a rotisserie and see how that goes. Would like to say thank you very much for sharing this.
Hi Dave. That is amazing! I can’t believe you raise your own ducks! Please share how this recipe tastes using a rotisserie. I’ve always wanted to try using one!
The glaze brought so much flavor to the duck!! Great recipe 🙂
I’m so excited to hear that! The glaze is my favorite part of the duck!
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I plan to make this on Thanksgiving. One question, please, the Earl Grey tea…is that from a cup of tea, or the actual tea leaves. Thank you!
Hi Jackie. I’m excited you’re making this for Thanksgiving! I used loose leaf earl grey tea for this recipe. Let me know how it goes!
Here it is ,Thanksgiving again and guess what I’m making… lol It was such a hit last year that even the turkey-eaters wanted some .
Had a senior moment & was wondering the exact thing I wondered last year about the tea. Thanks for this wonderful recipe 🙂
I used loose leaf earl grey tea for this recipe! I hope you love this duck as much as you did last year 🙂
I don’t understand the tea part. Are you boiling water, making tea and adding the liquid or are you putting the tea leaves in the glaze?
I add the tea leaves to the glaze so that tea flavor is infused into the glaze.
It turned out great and the everyone liked it. Even my picky eater. Thanks
Made this over Christmas and it was amazing! The glaze was the highlight! Might make it a yearly tradition. Thank you.
Hi Debo. Thank you so much for trying the recipe! So glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Wonderful recipe! I used irish silver hill duck with a thick fat layer, and therefore scored the duck skin across the breast to ensure better rendering of the fat. also rubbed in more five spice powder and salt to ensure a thorough penetration. guests loved it.
the drippings/duck fat make for superb rice dishes – be sure to save it.
That sounds amazing! Thank you for trying the recipe!
Look good and tasks good.
(Review provided by family member of Cooking Therapy.)
This duck was incredible!! I added some ginger in the cavity as well and it turned out so flavorful and moist. I’m definitely going to make this again soon!
Thank you so much Kaitie!!!