Why it works: Lemon and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Long Island Roast Duckling with Citrus
3–4Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the duck
Defrost the duck in the fridge if it is frozen.
Remove the giblets and any packages from the body cavity.
Rinse the duck and pat it dry both inside and out with paper towels.
Pierce the skin every half inch with prongs, pushing the prongs through the skin and into the fat but not into the meat.
Rub plenty of salt and freshly ground pepper on the skin.
Place 2 pieces of lemon and 2–4 pieces of orange inside the duck's cavity.
Tie the duck's legs together with a piece of butcher's twine.
Place the duck breast side up on a rack that has been placed on a roasting pan.
Push a meat thermometer into one of the thighs.
Roast and rest
Preheat the oven to 375 °F and place an oven rack in the center of the oven.
Place the bird on the center rack of the oven.
Cook the duck for 1–1½ hours depending on its size.
Every 20 minutes, remove the duck from the oven and drain the excess fat.
Rotate the duck each time you return it to the oven to help it crisp evenly.
Check that the skin is golden brown and crispy and that the meat thermometer reads at least 165 °F.
Remove the bird from the oven.
Pour out the liquid from the cavity and discard.
Allow the duck to rest for ten minutes before carving.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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.
-
Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Orange + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,402 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Whole pekin duckling
- Provides the main meat, whose fat renders out during roasting to crisp the skin.
- Lemon
- Adds bright acidity and aroma from inside the cavity as the bird roasts.
- Orange
- Adds sweet citrus aroma and mild flavour from inside the cavity as the bird roasts.
The step that matters
Pierce the skin without piercing the meat. Pricking the skin lets the layer of fat under it melt and drain, which helps the skin turn crisp. Pricking into the meat would let juices escape and dry it out.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, pepper):
- Limefits better
- Orangethe original
- Mangofits less well
- Cherryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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