I love Peking Duck, but it’s a complicated recipe that takes a lot of work and I don’t always want to put in the effort. This duck doesn’t have the same crispiness, but it’s a much easier way to enjoy roast duck with a Chinese flavor. This is a modified version of this recipe.

Even though this is an easier recipe, you’ll still need to budget plenty of time for it — 2-3 days to thaw a frozen duck, up to 24 hours to marinate, and 2 hours to roast.

1 whole duck, ~5-6 pounds
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons 5-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon white pepper or black pepper
2 shallots
2 small mandarin peels, washed and chopped (if the duck comes with an orange sauce packet, you can sub in some of this)
1 1-inch piece ginger about thumb sized, peeled and sliced
4 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

If frozen, defrost the duck in a large container in your refrigerator for at least 2-3 days.

At least 6-24 hours before you want to roast the duck, get ready to marinate. Mix the hoisin sauce, honey, salt, 5-spice powder, and pepper in a small bowl. Chop the shallots, garlic, and mandarin peels.

Prepare the duck by taking out the gizzards, other parts, pouches of sauce, any plastic ties that might be inside the duck. Rinse the duck inside and out and remove anything you don’t want to eat. Pat dry with paper towels.

Grease a 13×9 (or similarly-sized) baking dish. If you have a little rack designed for roasting poultry, grease that as well and put it in the baking dish. Otherwise, form aluminum foil into 2 crumpled sticks that will elevate the duck above the bottom of the pan, and grease those instead.

Place the duck inside, spoon half the marinade into the duck cavity, and rub it around. Stuff the duck cavity with the shallots, mandarin peels, ginger, and garlic. Use 1-2 skewers or long toothpicks to “sew” the cavity shut.

Rub the outside of the duck with the other half of the marinade and then 1 tablespoon oil.

Loosely cover with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight, turning the duck over at least once.

~3 hours before you want to eat, take the duck out of the refrigerator to warm up to room temperature for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 375°F.

Spray 4 pieces of foil (approximately 5×5 inches) with cooking spray and wrap each drumstick and each wing with foil.

Add 1 cup hot water in the baking dish and place the dish in the oven.

After an hour or so, take the duck out of the oven and carefully flip it over so the bottom side is now on top. Put it back in the oven.

After another hour (~2 hours total baking time, give or take a few minutes depending on the size), take the duck out of the oven and check the internal temperature. It should be at least 165F to be done. Allow it to rest a few minutes.

When it’s not too hot to handle, transfer the duck to a serving platter and let it rest for 30 minutes.

You can either carve the duck like a turkey (easier if the duck is still too hot after 30 minutes of resting) or transfer it to a cutting board and chop it up into 2-inch pieces.

If desired, spoon the drippings from the pan into a gravy boat or directly onto the duck. This will be thicker than standard poultry drippings due to the thickness of the marinade, but if you feel like it’s a little runny, you can thicken it by heating it in a saucepan over low heat and whisking in some corn starch.