yield: (serves 6 people)

Ingredients

• 5 x 200g each duck breasts
• 2 teaspoons five-spice
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons groundnut oil
• 2 large handfuls of thin asparagus, trimmed
• 2 large handfuls of sugar snap peas
• 4 cloves of garlic, very finely sliced
• 1–2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely sliced
• 2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 oranges, zested, peeled and segmented
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Handful of fresh mint leaves
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 x 225g tin water chestnuts, sliced

 Directions

1. Score the skin of the duck with a sharp knife. Dust the breasts all over with the five-spice and a good pinch of salt.
2. 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.
3. Cook for around 10 minutes, turn breasts over and cook for another 3 minutes until meat is medium rare. Remove them to a plate and pour off the fat.
4. Wipe wok clean with kitchen towel.
5. Heat wok over very high heat till smoking.
6. Add a couple of tablespoons of groundnut oil.  Carefully swill the oil around so that it covers the whole pan. Add asparagus and sugar snap peas and toss around, then add the garlic, chilli and ginger.
7. 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. Remove the veggies to a plate.
8. Slice up the 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.
9. Put all the vegetables back into the wok, and turn down the heat. Add the orange segments, zest, honey, half the mint and the soy sauce, and serve straight away on a large plate, sprinkled with the rest of the mint and the sliced water chestnuts.
10. Serve green Chinese noodles.