Orange and Star Anise Duck Gravy

Duck and orange is a pairing that got a bad name in the seventies for being too sweet, which is usually a sign that somebody used marmalade and a lot of sugar. Made with fresh juice, a bit of zest and a hard reduction, it is sharp and clean rather than sticky. This is a thin, shining sauce for roast duck, duck breast or a goose.

Ingredients

Makes about 350ml, enough for four plates

• 1 tbsp duck fat from the roasting tin
• 1 shallot finely chopped
• 1 star anise one pod only
• 2 oranges the zest of one, the juice of both, about 150ml
• 450ml (16fl oz) hot duck or chicken stock
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 2 tsp arrowroot or cornflour if that is what you have
• 2 tbsp cold water
• salt and black pepper to taste

Kit

• Wide saucepan
• Zester or fine grater
• Fine sieve
• Small cup

Method

1. Put the sugar and vinegar in a wide pan over a medium heat and let them bubble together for two minutes until slightly syrupy and darkened. This is a quick gastrique and it is what keeps the orange from tasting like squash.

2. Add the duck fat and the shallot and cook for three minutes until soft. Drop in the star anise and stir it around for thirty seconds so it warms and starts to smell.

3. Pour in the orange juice and turn the heat up. Boil hard for five minutes until it has reduced by about half and looks glossy in the pan.

4. Add the stock, bring back to a simmer and cook uncovered for ten to twelve minutes. Taste at ten minutes. When the star anise is clearly there but not shouting, fish it out and throw it away.

5. Add most of the orange zest, keeping a pinch back, and simmer for one minute. Long cooking makes zest bitter, so this goes in near the end.

6. Mix the arrowroot with the cold water until smooth and whisk it into the simmering sauce. It will thicken within thirty seconds and stay clear rather than going cloudy, which is why arrowroot is worth using here.

7. Strain through a fine sieve into a warm jug. Season with salt and pepper and taste properly. It should be sharp with a savoury base and a warm spice finish. If it is too sharp, another half teaspoon of sugar.

8. Scatter the reserved zest over the top just before it goes to the table.

Tips worth knowing

• One star anise in 600ml of liquid, taken out after ten to twelve minutes. Two pods will bury the duck completely and the aniseed will still be there the next day.
• Arrowroot gives a clear glossy sauce and cornflour gives a slightly cloudy one. Arrowroot also thickens at a lower temperature, so add it to a simmer and not a rolling boil or it can thin out again.
• Zest only the coloured part of the orange. The white pith underneath is bitter and there is no way of taking it out once it is in.
• Seville oranges, if you can get them in January, make this considerably better. Use one Seville and one ordinary orange and drop the vinegar to two teaspoons.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps three days in the fridge and freezes for two months, though arrowroot thickened sauces can go slack after freezing. If it does, reheat and whisk in a fresh half teaspoon of arrowroot mixed with water.

Questions people ask