Whole BBQ Duck and Fried Rice

I love dim sum and Chinese food restaurants. There's a place in Toronto that's called Pearl Harbourfront and it has the most amazing dim sum. When I go, I also tend to order their BBQ whole duck and it is so good, so I decided to make my own version using the Alchemy. It was amazing. An important step I recommend you don't skip, is air-drying your duck for two days in the fridge prior to cooking it. Just pat the duck dry and place on a plate or tray in the fridge, uncovered and allow the cool air to dry it out. I decided to spatchcock (flatten) the duck so it would take less time to cook, but in theory you can keep it whole. I smoked the spatchcock duck in the Alchemy smoker compartment and then seared it up top on the grill to crisp up the skin. A secret tip to get that skin extra extra crispy, is to heat up oil and pour it over the duck, the skin crisps and crackles and it is amazing. I also made my own sweet and salty cranberry-soy glaze for the duck and spooned it over my duck as it smoked to help flavour and caramelize it. I made a spicy fried rice to go along with my duck, which is super quick and easy to make. Once my duck was done, I chopped it up into pieces, put it on top of that fried rice and drizzled on more of that glaze and garnished it with chopped green onion. The duck was so juicy and tender and the skin was crispy and caramelized, the smoke added another level of flavour but wasn't too much, it was just an insanely good dish. If you want to find out how to make my Whole BBQ Duck and Fried Rice keep reading, or jump to the full recipe.

The first step, is to let the duck air dry, unwrapped (no plastic, no bag, no styrofoam tray, nothing) on a plate or tray in the fridge for two days prior to cooking. When you're ready to start cooking, set your smoker to 350F-375F. Spatchcock the duck and season with salt.

Place the duck in the smoker for 1.5 hours or until the internal temp reaches 165F.

To make the glaze, grate the ginger and garlic into a bowl, add the sugar, salt and Chinese five spice.

Mix in the seasoned soy sauce, then the rice vinegar, then cranberry juice, then hoisin.

While the duck smokes, about every half hour, brush the duck with the glaze.

For the fried rice, dice the carrot and green onion, reserving the green parts for garnish. Dice the garlic and ginger.

Add oil to a wok placed in the elevated grill rack stand, add in all the ingredients and mix until fragrant and slightly softened. Add in the eggs and mix.

Add in the chili crisp and mix (adjust amount based on desired level of spice). Add the rice and mix, then season with the soy sauce and mix. Remove from the heat.

Add the grill plate onto the elevated grill rack stand and place a cast iron pan with canola oil in it to heat up. Once the duck is cooked, remove from the smoker and place on the diamond patterned grill. Spoon the hot oil over the duck to crisp up the skin.

Sear the duck on all sides on the grill and in the centre fire.

Once the duck is seared, place on a cutting board and chop into pieces. Ideally you let it rest a couple of minutes, so the juices don't escape like they didn't with mine... I was just really excited to get into it...

To plate, chop up the duck and place on a platter on top of the fried rice. Spoon leftover glaze on top of the duck and garnish with the chopped green onions.

And now for the full recipe...

Whole BBQ Duck and Fried Rice

Serves 4 to 6 people

Prep Time: Two days + 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 whole duck

2 tbsp salt

Glaze:

2 tbsp grated ginger

2-3 cloves garlic

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 cup seasoned soy sauce

1 tbsp Chinese 5 spice

1/4 cup hoisin

3 tbsp rice vinegar

1/4 cup cranberry juice (sweetened)

Fried Rice:

5-6 green onions

1 carrot

1 tbsp ginger

2 cloves garlic

2 cups day old rice

2 eggs

1-2 tbsp chili crisp

1-2 tbsp seasoned soy sauce

How to Make Whole BBQ Duck and Fried Rice

The first step, is to let the duck air dry, unwrapped (no plastic, no bag, no styrofoam tray, nothing) on a plate or tray in the fridge for two days prior to cooking.

Set smoker to 350F-375F.

Spatchcock the duck and season with salt. Place in the smoker for 1.5 hours or the internal temp reaches 165F.

To make the glaze, grate the ginger and garlic into a bowl, add the sugar, salt and Chinese five spice. Mix in the seasoned soy sauce, then the rice vinegar, then cranberry juice, then hoisin. While the duck smokes, about every half hour, brush the duck with the glaze.

For the fried rice, dice the carrot and green onion, reserving the green parts for garnish. Dice the garlic and ginger. Add oil to a wok placed in the elevated grill rack stand, add in all the ingredients and mix until fragrant and slightly softened. Add in the eggs and mix. Add in the chili crisp and mix (adjust amount based on desired level of spice). Add the rice and mix, then season with the soy sauce and mix. Remove from the heat.

Add the grill plate onto the elevated grill rack stand and place a cast iron pan with canola oil on it, to heat up.

Once the duck is cooked, remove from the smoker and place on the diamond patterned grill. Spoon the hot oil over the duck to crisp up the skin. Sear the duck on all sides on the grill and in the centre fire.

To plate, chop up the duck and place on a platter on top of the fried rice. Spoon leftover glaze on top of the duck and garnish with the chopped green onions.

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