You might have thought the delicious combination of duck and orange was forever lost on Keto, but never fear! This Keto Chinese Duck recipe uses orange peel instead of juice to release those beautiful citrus oils into a delicious sauce.
The photos don’t do this duck justice – it is YUM. No joke. Writing this recipe up after cooking this duck last week has made me hungry for it again, I might make it tonight!
I thought about using orange peel to flavour this after going to a cocktail bar and ordering an Old Fashioned. The bar tender knew a few tricks, and was twisting the orange rind into little spirals and showing me how the orange oil bursts out of the peel. Well, I thought, that gives orange flavour from the oil without any of the sugar that comes in the juice!
Cut the orange rind into long strips and then twist it as you put it into the sauce. It’s not a really strong flavour but quite subtle, and works beautifully with the duck.
If you love Chinese recipes, check out some of my others by clicking below;
Enjoy!
Keto Chinese Duck with Orange Sauce
Using orange rind in this delicious sauce takes a crispy skinned, Chinese spiced duck breast to a whole new level. Serve with cauliflower mash or sauteed bok choy for an ultimate keto chinese meal!
- 2 duck breasts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1.5 teaspoons chinese 5 spice
Sauce
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons xylitol (or your preferred sweetener)
- 4 tablespoons tamari
- 1/2 teaspoon chinese 5 spice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tespoons apple cider vinegar
- peel of one orange
-
Preheat the oven to 200C / 392F and locate an oven proof frying pan and small saucepan.
-
In a small saucepan, combine all sauce ingredients. When adding the orange peel, twist it tightly to release the orange oil – this is how you get the flavour without the sugar!
-
Simmer the sauce over low heat for 20 – 25 minutes while preparing the duck. Whisk occasionally, taste for seasoning after 15 minutes.
-
To prepare the duck, combine the chinese 5 spice, salt and pepper. Score the duck skin in a criss-cross pattern, being careful to just cut through the fat like you would pork belly.
-
Rub the spice mixture all over the duck breast. Heat the oven proof frying pan over medium-high heat (with no oil) and then place the duck breast, skin side down.
-
Cook for 4-5 minutes then turn and cook for a further 2 minutes. A large amount of fat will come out – drain this off (keep it for future use though!)
-
Place the frying pan into the preheated oven and cook for 8 – 10 minutes until it reaches 57 – 60 degrees on a digital thermometer.
-
Remove from the oven and rest, tented with foil. Meanwhile, remove the orange peel from the sauce.
-
Serve with sauteed bok choy, cauliflower mash and fresh spring onion.
Leave a Reply