Main Course 

Roast Duck with Sticky Rice

Ingredients:         - a NZ size 18 Duck, approximately 1.7 – 1.9 kg or 4 lbs

Seasoning for the duck:    - ground white pepper

                                             - fine sea salt

                                             - freshly grated ginger juice

                                             - light soy sauce

                                             - Chinese rice wine or Shaoxing wine

                                             - caster sugar (for the colour)

                                             - dark soy sauce (for the colour)

          *The quantity and proportion of the seasonings are not critical

Sticky Rice Stuffings:    - 1 to 1-1/2 cup of Thai Glutinous rice

                                         - 2 to 3 medium dried Chinese (Shitake) mushrooms, soaked and cut                                               into small dices

                                         - 1 to 2 dried scallops soaked and shredded

                                         -  a handful of dried shrimps soaked and cut in small portions

                                         - 1 to 2 pieces of Chinese sausages or 100 grammes pork mince.

                                         - the white part of a spring onion, cut into rings

                                         - One teaspoon of minced coriander (optional)

           *If pork mince is used, season them first with salt, pepper, sugar, soy sauce, corn                       starch and sesame oil etc.

Method:-

The Duck:

1.      Clean the duck and remove everything including the big chunk of fat around the bottom          and the neck.

2.      Dry it with paper towel as thorough as possible, then rub the cavity with pepper and salt

3.      Also rub pepper, salt, ginger juice, Chinese rice wine, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce 
         and a bit caster sugar at the end for the colour.   It is not marinade, so the proportion of          the seasoning is not that  critical,  just gently rub everything in evenly, one at a time, this          also give some massage to the duck at the same time

4.      Set the duck aside and let it stands while you are waiting for the rice to be ready. Preheat    the oven according to how you like the duck to be cooked, if you like the duck still pink          inside, preheat the fan forced convection oven to 200C (390F) and traditional oven to            210C (410F).  If you want a traditional well cooked duck, use 180C (350F) for convection      oven and 190C (370F) for traditional oven.

The Sticky Rice Stuffings:

1.      Cooked the glutinous rice in the rice cooker, usually the proportion should be 1 cup rice:              1.1 – 1.2 cup water, but this time because the rice will absorb the duck juice while                         roasting, so just use 1 cup rice to1 cup water. However, please read the cooking                        instructions on the packet, and reduce the water by 10%.

2.      Meantime, fry with very little oil the other ingredients except the spring onion and the              coriander

3.      When the rice is ready, fluff the rice and add in the cooked ingredients. You may want to        add a little bit    salt to taste, you can try it as everything is cooked.

4.      When the rice cool down a bit, mixed in the spring onion and coriander and the rice is            ready to be stuffed into the duck. 

Roasting:

1.      Stuff the sticky rice into the cavity of the duck, after doing so the easiest way is to close        the bottom with a bamboo skewer (cotton threading are too slow and fiddly!)

2.      If the oven is preheated with 200C (390F) or 210C (410F) for a pink result, roast the duck    for 1 hour. If the oven is preheated for a well cooked duck, roast it for 1 and a half hour.          However, the amount of time should be adjusted according to the size of the duck. It is          better to use an meat thermometer.

3.      No matter what temp you choose, when the duck is ready, make sure you transfer it to a        plate, cover it loosely with tin foil and rest  for at least 10 to 15mins before you carve , this      allows the duck to continue cooking by the residual heat and the meat to relax slowly and      thus tastier and more tender.

 Hint:

-        Duck and goose are more difficult to carve than Chicken and Turkey.  Suggest you show      your audience the whole nicely roasted duck and take some pictures (like the peking            duck restaurant in HK)  but take it back to the kitchen to struggle carving it!!!

-        Keep the juice it gives out when resting, they are treasures.  Use it as gravy or for future        use in other dishes.

-        Keep the fat from roasting, they are good for roast potatoes