Aromatic duck contains a range of fantastic flavours and best served with traditional Chinese pancakes or steamed rice, and a cooling salad.

For the aromatic duck:
Place the onion, celery, leek, carrots, chillies, ginger and garlic into a large bowl. Rub the duck all over with a little salt and place on top of the vegetables. Cover with cling film and leave to marinate for 15-30 min, or, for best results, leave overnight in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 230ËšC/gas mark 8. Heat a large frying pan until hot and add the duck breast, skin-side down. Fry for 4-5 min, turning frequently, until browned all over

Remove the duck from the pan and set aside to rest on a cooling rack. Remove some fat from the frying pan, leaving about two tablespoons. Add the vegetables from the bowl, the cinnamon sticks, star anise, orange and coriander stalks and fry for 5 min.

Add the port to the vegetables and cook for a further five minutes, or until the volume of the liquid has reduced by half.

Stir in the hoisin sauce, soy sauce and honey, then add the chicken stock. Place the duck, skin side up, into the frying pan, cover with greaseproof paper and cook for 20 min. Turn the duck over and cook for a further 15 min.


Remove the duck from the frying pan and place onto a cooling rack set over a roasting tray. Strain the liquid in the frying pan through a sieve into a large saucepan and cook until the liquid has reduced to the consistency of a syrup.

Reduce the oven to 200ËšC/gas mark 6. Brush the duck all over with the reduced liquid and roast for 10-12 minutes, or until golden-brown.

For the salad:
Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Serve the whole crown at the table to carve. Best served with traditional Chinese pancakes or steamed rice.