In order to get the duck legs for my experiments with Alinea’s book, I had to buy a whole duck. For the breasts, I decided to take an east meets west angle. The “east” came from a 5-spice rub on the breast and hoisin and sake in the sauce. The “west” incarnated itself in a timbale of broccoli raab, chanterelles and rice. The sauce nodded to France with a swirl of butter at the end.
4 duck breasts
1 tsp. Sichuan pepper
1 tbs. five spice powder
salt
¼ cup sake
1 tbs. hoisin
pinch of chili flakes
1 tbs. chopped shallots
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup chicken broth or stock
butter to taste
Score the skin side of the duck breast. Season meat with salt, pepper and five spice. Cook duck, skin side down over low heat for 10 minutes, or until the fat is rendered and the skin is crispy. Cook breast for 1 minute on flesh side for medium. Remove duck from pan and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
To the duck pan: drain off excess fat. Return pan to heat. Add the shallots and chili flakes. Cook for 2 minutes until the shallots are soft. Deglaze the pan with sake. Stir in hoisin and nutmeg. Add chicken broth, and let reduce by half. Swirl in butter to taste.