Roast duck breast with spicy sweet sour sauce

This isn’t a new recipe. Even the photos are several years old. I had been meaning to cook the dish again and take better photos for the blog before republishing the recipe. In fact, I can say the same for so many other recipes that I haven’t reposted yet after the move from the old domain. I had this dream that I would cook them all again and, with the belief that I plate food better now, I’d end up with photos that would titillate the reader’s imagination even more. But, alas… life doesn’t always allow us to fulfill every dream.

Is this recipe different from the old one? No. It’s the same recipe. There really isn’t much improvement needed. It’s designed to be both simple and easy. Simple because the ingredients are few, and easy because the cooking process is not complex at all. Just sear and brown, and roast. The sauce that goes on top of the duck before serving doesn’t even require cooking.

And it isn’t just the recipe that has remained the same. My technique for searing and roasting duck breast has not changed either. Brown the duck skin in a frying pan and let it render fat. Flip to brown the meat. Pop into the preheated oven and roast. Then, rest before slicing and serving.

Can the duck be cooked in an air fryer?

I actually entertained that idea. Air fry the duck without searing and browning on the stovetop. But duck skin is extremely fatty and the melted fat that will collect on the bottom of the air fryer basket may start smoking before the duck is done. Not only will that ruin the dish, it might be terribly dangerous too.

So, I’ll make a qualified response, and this will be the process that I will follow when I’m ready to cook this dish again. If the duck has been seared and browned on the stovetop, the duck can go into the air fryer minus the rendered fat. Same principle when we cook crispy pork belly. Boil the pork first to allow fat to melt so that there is much less fat to drip into the air fryer basket. Smarter. Safer.