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Cantonese-style Roast Duck Recipe

Five spice powder and a little hoisin sauce give this Cantonese duck recipe its signature aroma and glossy, crispy skin.

By lovefood · From Open Recipes · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,147 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Cantonese-style Roast Duck Recipe

6 people
Prep15 min
Cook1 hr

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

391Calories
19 gProtein
28 gFat
13 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 6 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Duck100g cooked with skin337
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Saucenot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By lovefood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,147 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Ginger + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together14,054 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  4. Ginger + vinegartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,126 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  5. Ginger + saucetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,409 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ginger and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, sauce, vinegar):

  1. Tarragonfits about as well
  2. Cinnamonfits about as well
  3. Capersfits about as well
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, sauce, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.