First of all, score the skin of the duck with a sharp knife. Then dust
the breasts all over with the five-spice and a good pinch of salt. Put
the duck breasts skin side down in a cold wok, then bring it slowly up
to a medium low temperature so the white fat turns into wonderful thin,
crispy, golden crackling. Cook for around 12 minutes, then turn the
breasts over and cook for a further 5 minutes.
By which time they will be cooked medium, so remove them to a plate and
pour away the duck fat. Get all your veggies and flavourings ready to
go and wipe your wok. Now you want to get it really hot – if you want
to open the window (and cover the fire alarm – joke!), then do. You may
need to cook it all in smallish batches depending on the size of your
wok.
Add a couple of tablespoons of sunflower or groundnut oil to your hot
wok. Carefully swill the oil around so that it covers the whole pan.
Add your asparagus and sugar snap peas or mangetouts and toss around,
then add the garlic, chilli and ginger. Continue stir-frying on the
highest heat for a couple of minutes, until the asparagus has softened
a little but still has a nice crunch. By all means have a taste. Remove
the veg to a plate. Slice up your duck breasts into little slivers and
put these back into the wok with any resting juices and maybe an extra
pinch of five-spice. Cook until nice and crispy.
Put all your vegetables back into the wok, and turn down the heat. Add
the oranges, honey, half the mint and the soy sauce, and serve straight
away on a large plate, sprinkled with the rest of the mint. Serve with
rice or noodles, as a starter or main course.