Valentine Warner's crispy roast duck leg with cooling cucumber recipe

Details

• Cuisine: Chinese
• Recipe Type: Main
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation Time: 45 mins
• Cooking Time: 90 mins
• Serves: 2

Step-by-step

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / fan oven 160°C / Gas Mark 4.
2. Cut through all skin and tendons around ankle of duck leg.
3. Rub a little sunflower oil into the duck legs and season with the dried thyme and a little of the salt. Put them on a small baking tray or frying pan with a heat resistant handle and put them in the oven for 1 hour and twenty minutes or until very tender.
4. Put the cucumber in a colander and mix through with the salt. Leave to drain over the sink for half an hour. When ready, wring out the cucumber with your hand to extract as much excess water as possible.
5. In the meantime tip the seeds into a small saucepan and jostle them around until a faintly toasted smell comes to the nose. Now add a dash of oil and sweat the onions over a medium heat for 5 minutes or so. Stir in the turmeric and cook for a further minute before adding the vinegar. Boil rapidly until the onions appear moist rather than wet. Take off the heat and add the remaining ingredients.
6. When cool, add the cucumbers and stir through the vinaigrette thoroughly. Leave to sit for ten minutes or so.
7. Remove the duck from the oven.
8. Spread a decent pile of the cucumber over the plate and place the crispy duck leg on top.
9. Good eaten with new potatoes tossed with butter, some salt and pepper and maybe a little chopped dill.