Seared duck breast with orange, honey and soy sauce

I'm getting bored of eating the same protein and cooking the same dishes all the time. So tonite I decided to cook something different. I saw some really beautiful french duck breast in Three sixty and I wanted to cook duck. I have never cooked duck before so I was a bit worried I would ruin the duck.

After scoring the duck skin, I seared the duck with skin side down. Recipe said sear it with 3-4mins but the skin was already burned with just 2-3mins. Byebye crispy skin. haha Then I roasted it in the oven for 8mins at 200C and rested it for 5mins. The duck breast was lovely pink. Duck should always be served medium rare otherwise it gets dry and tough. I think I like it even more rare next time, probably 1 min less would be perfect.

I have read that duck and orange is a good match. It was a bit tricky to balance the flavor of honey, orange juice and soy sauce so it didn't get too sweet and remained a bit tangy. Luckily I nailed it. The orange marmalade and soy sauce glaze matches perfectly with the rich and gamy taste of duck. It tasted so refreshing with a copious amount of my favorite herb, coriander. :) It's a really appetizing dish for spring or summer. My dog loves duck very much too, though his duck was cooked to well done! haha

For two people

Ingredients
1 Duck breast
half an orange, peel off skin and cut into small pieces
some green leaves for the salad
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp light soy sauce (1tbsp should be enough coz I used the bottled orange juice with much sugar in it)
salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
coriander, for garnish

Directions

1. Pat the duck breast skin dry and score it in a cross hatch pattern. Season both sides of the breast with salt and pepper
2. Place the breast skin down in a cold non stick pan on a medium heat without oil for about 3-4 mins or until golden brown. Seal the other side for 30 seconds.
3. Place the skin side up in the preheated oven at 200C and cook it for 8mins for medium rare.
4. Rest it for 5 mins at room temperature.
5. While the duck is cooking in the oven, prepare the sauce. Mix garlic, orange juice, honey and light soy sauce together. Taste it to check the sweetness and adjust if necessary.
6. Pour off the duck fat from the pan and deglazed the pan with the sauce. Ready once it's boiled.
7. Place the duck breast on top of veggies and orange salad. Pour the sauce on the duck or serve on the side and garnish the duck with coriander.