This was delicious and the plum sauce was so tasty. It tastes so much better than the jarred version. It reminds me of a posh sweet and sour as you get spice, heat, sweetness and sourness. The peppery and aniseedy rub made for a nice change from five spice powder. The meat was juicy and the skin crispy, we served ours with steamed broccoli and coconut steamed noodles that I got from the supermarket. I adapted this recipe from Schwartz spices.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 medium duck breasts, skin on
• 2 star anise
• 1 tsp Szechuan Peppercorns
• 1 tsp sea salt

For the sauce

• 400g plums, stoned and quartered
• 1 inch of fresh ginger, sliced
• 50g light brown sugar
• 75ml white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• pinch of Chillies Crushed
• 2 Star Anise Whole

Serve with rice, noodles or vegetables

Directions

1. Pre heat oven to 180 degrees (fan).
2. For the sauce, place the plums, sliced ginger, brown sugar, white wine vinegar, soy sauce, chillies and two of the star anise in a pan and heat through for 20-25 minutes until the plums are softened. Pass through a sieve and reserve the liquid.
3. Meanwhile, grind the remaining star anise, salt and Szechuan pepper in a pestle and mortar. Using a sharp knife, score the skin across the duck breast and rub the spice mix into each one
4. Put the duck skin side down into a cold pan on a high heat and fry for around 3 minutes until the fat has rendered. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for a further 2 minutes, flip over the duck and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.
5. Place the whole pan in the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes.
6. Once cooked place the duck on a plate cover with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes. (Re heat the sauce at this point)

To serve, slice the rested duck breast’s on an angle and serve with your chosen sides and the plum sauce