Skip to content
Pinch of Mint
Search recipes
  • Feeding a family

Roast duck with orange and five spice

Person basting a roasted duck with sauce using a brush. The duck has a glossy brown glaze.

By Tom · Updated

Jump to recipe
  • Serves 4
  • 2 hours 20 min
  • Takes a bit of care

Learn how to roast a whole duck with a crispy skin and a orange, honey, and five-spice glaze. Perfect for Christmas or any special roast dinner. Step-by-step tips for prepping, seasoning, and glazing your duck to perfection.

Loads from YouTube only once you press play.

The recipe

Roast duck with orange and five spice

Learn how to roast a whole duck with a crispy skin and a orange, honey, and five-spice glaze.

  • Serves 4
  • 20 min prep
  • 2 hours cooking
  • Takes a bit of care

Difficulty is our estimate from the method.

Scale
4 servings
Measurements

Ingredients

For the duck

For the glaze

Tick things off as you go — they stay ticked if you close the page.

A dotted underline means the amount has been rounded to something you can measure.

Method

Prep the duck

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 160°C (fan) / 180°C (conventional).

  2. Step 2

    Pat the duck (1 duck) dry with kitchen paper. For extra crispy skin, remove from packaging 1-2 days ahead and leave uncovered in the fridge, or hang if possible.

  3. Step 3

    Remove wing tips and any excess skin. Optional: lightly score the skin in a criss-cross pattern (without cutting into the meat) to help render fat.

Season the duck

  1. Step 1

    Mix 1 tsp salt (1 tsp) with ½ tsp Chinese five-spice (½ tsp).

  2. Step 2

    Sprinkle seasoning inside the cavity and add orange (1) chunks.

  3. Step 3

    Lift the legs and tie together to keep a neat shape.

Initial roast

  1. Step 1

    Place the duck (1 duck) on a wire rack over a tray. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes to start rendering the fat.

Prepare the glaze

  1. Step 1

    Combine soy sauce (20 ml), honey (80 g), orange (1) juice, and 1 tsp five-spice (½ tsp) in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.

Glazing and roasting

  1. Step 1

    After the first 30 minutes, brush a thin layer of glaze over the duck (1 duck). Roast another 30 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Repeat glazing every 15 minutes for three more intervals, ensuring the duck (1 duck) is evenly coated.

Final glaze (optional)

  1. Step 1

    Reduce any remaining glaze in a small saucepan until slightly sticky and brush over the cooked duck (1 duck) for extra shine and flavour.

Serve

  1. Step 1

    Let the duck (1 duck) rest for a few minutes before carving. Serve with your favourite sides or as part of a festive meal.

Stay in the loop

Get new recipes in your inbox

Occasional emails with new recipes, cooking tips and what’s new at Pinch of Mint.

See our Privacy Policy for information about how your personal data is used.

More dinners

Also in The Sunday roast.

Questions people ask

How long does roast duck with orange and five spice take?

2 hours 20 min from start to finish, of which 20 min is prep and 2 hours is cooking.

How many does it serve, and can I change that?

As written it serves 4. Use the scale control on the recipe card to change it: every quantity in the ingredients and inside the method steps updates with it. Seasoning, and anything measured in pinches or splashes, is deliberately left alone.

Can I see the ingredients in ounces and pints?

Yes. The metric and imperial switch on the recipe card converts every quantity, rounded to amounts you can actually weigh or measure rather than to four decimal places. Your choice is remembered for every recipe on the site.