# The Perfect Duck Breast

American recipe from Chef Jason McKinney, about 14 hours, serves about 4.

Keep the skin above the marinade so it stays dry. Then a cold dry pan, fat side down, low heat.

- Total time: about 14 hours (estimated)
- Hands-on: about 45 minutes
- Serves: about 4
- Level: Medium
- Cuisine: American
- Note: Most of it is an overnight salt, a 4-hour marinade and an hour drying

## Ingredients

- 4 duck breast, large
- 20 g salt
- 120 g tamari, for the marinade
- 100 g orange juice, fresh, strained
- 30 g lemon juice, fresh
- 40 g honey, for the marinade
- 8 g (about one orange) orange zest, no pith
- 8 g oregano, fresh sprigs, bruised
- 15 g garlic, crushed
- 4 g black pepper, cracked
- 20 g olive oil
- 20 g honey, for the glaze

## Method

1. Score the fat in a crosshatch, do not cut the meat. Salt, rest uncovered in the fridge overnight.
2. Whisk the tamari, orange juice, lemon juice and the first honey until the honey dissolves. Add the zest, oregano, garlic, pepper and oil. Do not blend; the marinade stays clear and the oregano is whole.
3. Marinate the scored, salted breasts flesh side down in a shallow tray, 4 hr, no more than 12. Keep the skin above the liquid so it stays dry.
4. Lift the breasts out, wipe the flesh, pat the skin bone dry. Rest uncovered in the fridge 1 hr.
5. Strain the marinade into a small pot. Add the second honey. Boil, then simmer to half, about 175 g, until it coats a spoon. This is the glaze. Boiling makes the used marinade safe.
6. Into a cold dry pan, fat side down, then low heat. Render 12 to 15 min, pouring off the fat as it goes. Two pans, two breasts each.
7. Flip, 2 min. Brush the glaze on the flesh side only in the last minute. Pull at 52C. Never glaze the skin before it is crisp.
8. Rest 10 min. Brush once more. Slice, salt the cut face. Keep the rendered fat.

## Other ideas

- **With persimmon and brown butter.** Skip the glaze. Sear wedges of Fuyu persimmon in the duck fat, then finish with brown butter, thyme, shallot and a splash of sherry vinegar.

## Tools

- Two heavy pans, wide enough that the breasts are not touching
- A thin, sharp knife, for scoring
- A shallow tray, for the marinade
- A small pot, for the glaze
- A probe thermometer
- A jar, for the rendered fat

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Recipe page with photos and video: https://chefjasonmckinney.com/recipes/perfect-duck-breast
By Chef Jason McKinney. Free to cook; please link the page when you share it.