Bambou roast duck

Serves 2-4 sharing

We've developed this dish and recently put it on at the Vietnamese restaurant Bambou which belongs to our restaurant group. It has been flying out of the kitchen. It's a take on the classic French roast duck with the crisp, slow-cooked leg, pink breast and a salad made with the offal. The Vietnamese connection with France introduces some spices to interact with the fattiness of the duck.

We've developed this dish and recently put it on at the Vietnamese restaurant Bambou which belongs to our restaurant group. It has been flying out of the kitchen. It's a take on the classic French roast duck with the crisp, slow-cooked leg, pink breast and a salad made with the offal. The Vietnamese connection with France introduces some spices to interact with the fattiness of the duck.

It's important to use a good duck for which you will probably have to pay about £10 or more. Believe me, it's worth the money, especially if you find a corn-fed duck such as a Barbary. We are using English ducks from Reg Johnson in Goosnargh (Johnson & Swarbrick, Swainson Home Farm, Goosnargh Lane, Preston, 01772 865251) and I can safely say they will match any French bird.

1 duck weighing about 1.5-2kg with its liver and heart
250g duck or goose fat, melted
1 stick of lemon grass, roughly chopped
A small piece of galangal or root ginger, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 star anise
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tsp Szechuan pepper, crushed
1tbsp soy sauce
1 spring onion, finely shredded
30-40g small Asian salad leaves (mizuna, red mustard leaf, pea shoots, tat-soi, shiso, etc)
A few sprigs of coriander leaves

for the dressing

2tsp rice vinegar
1tbls groundnut oil

Preheat the oven to 150°C/gas mark 2. Remove the legs from the duck and chop off the knuckle. Remove half the thigh bone with the point of a sharp knife and shape the leg with your hands so the meat and skin on the thigh is tucked under where you removed the bone. Place into a small pan with the goose fat, lemon grass, galangal, garlic and star anise. Add a teaspoon of salt and cook in the oven for about 1 hour. Leave to cool in the fat. This can be done 1 or 2 days before and the legs left in the fat until needed.

Remove the duck breasts with a sharp knife, leaving the skin on, rub the Szechuan pepper and soy over them and leave in a container or on a plate. Remove any skin from the rest of the carcass and put it into a small saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Drain and leave to cool.

If the liver and heart came with the bird, trim and put with the breasts. If there weren't any giblets, you might be able to buy duck livers and hearts separately.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.

Remove the legs from the fat and roast on a small tray for about 30 minutes until crisp. Meanwhile season the breasts and quickly pan fry on both sides for a couple of minutes until nicely coloured then put them back in the oven on the tray with the legs, skin side down for 4-5 minutes. Remove the legs and breast from the oven but keep warm.

Cut the boiled skin into rough cubes and fry in about 1 cm of vegetable oil until crisp. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Pour off a little of the fat and in the same pan fry the livers and hearts briefly, keeping them pink.

Mix the rice vinegar and oil, cut the liver and heart into slices and toss with the leaves, dressing, spring onion, coriander and crispy skin. Slice the breast thinly and arrange on plates with the crisp leg and salad.