Chinese Five-Spice Roasted Duck Legs with Lentils and Cherries
Photography Josh Griggs.
The perfect combination of sweet and sour with tart cherries complementing the rich, meaty duck legs and a hearty salad of lentils and green beans.
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
4 duck legs (thigh and drumstick)
sea salt, ground pepper and ground Chinese five-spice
Mustard dressing
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
sea salt and ground pepper
Salad
¾ cup puy lentils, cooked as per packet instructions
1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
good handful fresh herbs ripped coarsely (I used mint and parsley)
250 grams green beans, blanched
680-gram jar pitted cherries, drained
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake.
Season both sides of the duck with salt and pepper then sprinkle the flesh side with a little five-spice powder.
Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add the duck, skin-side down. Cook until the skin is golden. Transfer to a shallow roasting tray and roast for 45 minutes or until tender.
Mustard dressing: Whisk all the ingredients together to make a thick emulsified dressing. Season.
Salad: Place the cooked puy lentils and the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and toss with ¾ of the dressing.
To serve: Divide the salad between plates. Top with a duck leg, then drizzle over the remaining dressing.
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In Dream Escape, we journey from Japan and Morocco to Italy, India and beyond, sharing recipes inspired by travel, heritage and comfort. We celebrate the champions of the Outstanding Food Producer Awards, explore the stories and recipes of chefs shaped by their cultural roots, and warm up with everything from West African soups and slow-braised lamb to porchetta, butter chicken and beef noodle soup. Alongside destination menus, Scandinavian sweets and cosy pub classics, Chrisanne Terblanche shares her favourite street-side dining spots in Bangkok, while Yvonne Lorkin explores red wine varietals. This issue, we invite you to slow down, turn the pages and escape through food.