Name: Vietnamese Wild Duck
Yield: Serves 4–6
Cuisine: Vietnam
Ingredients: 80 ml/3 fl oz Vietnamese or Thai fish sauce; 1 tablespoon Vietnamese or Chinese five-spice powder; 4–6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed; a big piece of ginger, the size of 2–3 large thumbs, peeled, roughly chopped, and lightly crushed; 2 wild ducks, or 1 nice plump reared duck, roughly 2.25 kg/5 lb in weight; 1 teaspoon ground ginger; a small knob of ginger, peeled and grated; 1–2 garlic cloves, crushed; 2 tablespoons honey; juice and zest of 1 orange; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped; 3–4 lemongrass stalks, halved and bruised; 1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar; 100 ml/3½ fl oz soy sauce; 4–6 spring onions, halved and crushed

Preparation info

Serves
4–6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Spirit & Spice

By Ghillie Basan

Published 2019

About

The succulent flesh of roasted or smoked duck has been paired with spirits like cognac and whisky for a long time. The pairing often reflects the smooth, creamy texture rather than the taste, but this Vietnamese method of roasting duck is all about the texture and the taste, as well as the accompaniments which you can alter depending on what whisky you are drinking. As there is not a lot of meat on a wild duck, Vit Quay is one of my favourite ways to enjoy it. In contrast to the Chinese who