Simple Szechuan Duck Breast in Plum Sauce

Duck has such an affinity with plum sauce and this recipe uses the cold pan method to cook a rosy pink duck breast before being served with a homemade plum sauce!

Szechuan Duck Breast.

If you spend any time digging around my site you will discover that I have a thing for duck.

I think it is a beautiful meat, it has so much flavour and versatility, it is also sadly underrated.

My whole roast duck recipe has featured as my Christmas Day meal on many occasions. I make a duck ragu for pasta and I use the confit legs to make fancy duck bonbons, I even have a duck stir fry and duck curry.

Oh yeah, burgers, I make duck burgers too.

Yes, I am obsessed!

But the way eat it the most often is some form of simply pan-cooked duck breast.

This version uses Szechuan peppercorns and a bit of Chinese five-spice.

Couple that with my homemade plum sauce and you have a fancy meal that is far more simple than those you serve it to will believe!

Substituting for Store Bought Plum Sauce.

This recipe calls for my unthickened plum sauce. It is a simple recipe that makes around 500ml of sauce.

You can use store-bought plum sauce if you like, however much of it is far too sweet for my tastes.

It is also often thickened which makes it gloopy, great for a dipping sauce, less so for a gravy type of sauce.

If you want to use a dipping style sauce, transfer it to a small pan and add 75-100ml of chicken stock.

Heat and taste for seasoning, adding a little lemon juice to balance the sweetness if it is all too sweet.

Buying and Cooking Duck Breast.

First of all, all of my recipes for duck breast use farmed duck. Wild duck is great but requires a little more experience and understanding to buy.

Farmed duck is a great product, it is consistent and tastes wonderful. Look for breasts that are around 175-225g in size with a nice thick layer of fat under the skin.

Then you want to bring it up to temperature before cooking, this is important!

The next step is to score the meat, you want to work in a crosshatch pattern about 1cm apart.

You can see the for this and cooking the duck breast in my Duck a l’Orange video above. the flavours are different but the technique is identical.

Season the breast and then into a cold pan… Yes, a COLD pan and turn on the heat, you want a medium to low temperature and let it sit for 12-15 minutes.

Do not touch do not mess with it for at least 7 or 8 minutes, then all you want to do is drain off the fat. Of course, you keep it for roast potatoes!

Finally, flip and cook for the last 5 minutes.

Most importantly buy a meat thermometer, they do not cost much and will make you a better cook!

Stick the probe of the thermometer into the thickest part of the breast and remove 3-4 degrees below the target temperature.

The duck will continue to cook on whilst it rests.

Cook your duck how you like it, I ain’t gonna tell you what is right or wrong, your dinner is yours to enjoy!

• Rare:  57°C
• Medium:  62°C
• Well Done:  67°C

If you are cooking on to well done I would transfer to an oven at 180°C or 350°F after flipping the duck to finish cooking. It will take another 10-12 minutes.