Garry Olah’s Clay-Pot Orange Duckling

1 three-to-five-pound duckling
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 or 4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 or 3 medium oranges, peeled and sliced (reserve rind)
1 tablespoon bottled orange-peel spice
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
5 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons arrowroot

Soak clay pot and lid in water for 15 minutes. Wash duckling inside and out with cold water. Cut away excess skin and fat. Rub salt, pepper, and garlic inside duckling. Sprinkle orange slices with more pepper, and stuff duckling with them. Put duckling in pot, breast down. Grate reserved rind over duckling, then sprinkle with orange-peel spice. Mix juice, soy sauce, ginger, allspice, and sugar in bowl; pour over and around duckling. (Duckling should be half covered by sauce; add more juice and soy sauce as needed.)

Place covered pot in cold oven, and set temperature at 480 degrees. Cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and pour juices into saucepan. Return pot to oven, uncovered. Brown duckling, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Bring sauce to a boil and thicken with arrowroot, 1 tablespoon at a time. (If sauce separates, add a little hot water.) Add more brown sugar if desired.

Note: A 3-to-5-pound chicken may be substituted for duckling.

Serves 2 – 4

From “Specialty of the House,” originally featured in Domain, Fall 1988.