Duck is one of my favorite proteins to order at a resturant. At times when I'm at the asian grocery store (Ranch 99 or Marina Market), I'll buy half a duck. Whether it's peking style duck or a few slices of duck meat, I almost always have to order it. The duck meat is somewhat gamey, but the distinct flavor of duck is worth it to my palate. Another reason this bird is so tasty all that fat helps to retain juice in the meat providing for vastly differing meat when compared to the white or dark meat of chicken.

So when I noticed Costco sold a whole duck, I knew I had to find a recipe to gauge the difficulty of preparing duck at home. And what I found was almost every recipe for roasted duck was simple. With a simple salt, pepper, and paprika seasoning, the preparation is easy. Some recipes even recommended coating the duck with butter, but because of the high fat content, I decided against adding even more fat.

And because duck is so fatty, roasting on a roasting pan with a rack (the same one you use for Thanksgiving turkey) is a must so the fat can drip down and out of the duck. The end result is a very greasy duck. The next time I try roasting a duck, I'm going to want find a way to force more of the fat to drip out (part of homecooking is full control of making food healthier).

Some have suggested piercing the meat to allow the fat to drip down into the pan. Though I assume this will cause the meat to be a bit drier, it's okay if the meat is more healthy.

All in all, the first attempt at this duck was easy and straightforward, but can use some improvement. I will definetely be attemping to roast a duck again in the future.