Air frying is the perfect, easy method for very crispy duck skin. This is ready in less than 45 minutes, including prep. The glaze adds wonderful spicy, tangerine flavor without softening the skin.
EQUIPMENT: air fryer, very sharp paring knife, microplane, citrus juicer reamer, Thermapen One, barbecue sauce brush
Air Fryer Crispy Duck Legs with Spicy Tangerine Glaze
Cuisine: AmericanDifficulty: EasyServings
2
servingsPrep time
20
minutesCooking time
15
minutesResting time
5
minutesTotal time
40
minutesIngredients
2 whole duck legs, 8 oz. each, room temperature
sea salt
freshly ground black peppercorns
five-spice powder
1 tangerine
- Spicy tangerine glaze
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon Tamurai sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce (adjust to taste)
Directions
- Start 10 cups of water boiling.
- Place the duck legs in a shallow pan. Use a sharp knife to score the skin, taking care not to cut through to the meat. Make a diamond pattern.
- When water starts boiling, slowly pour 9 cups of it over legs.
- Use paper towels to pat very dry.
- Place duck legs into air fryer.
- Lightly sprinkle each leg with salt, pepper, and five-spice powder.
- Air fry at 400°F for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make glaze and peel.
- The legs should be 165°F. Air fry 1 or 2 more minutes if needed. Remove legs from air fryer and brush the glaze on each leg.
- Place each leg on a plate and garnish with tangerine peels.
- Spicy tangerine glaze
- Use a vegetable peeler to peel a large, thin piece of skin from a tangerine, about 2 in by 1 in.
- Slice the peel lengthwise very thinly and drop the slices into the remaining 1 cup of boiling water. Remove from heat.
- Zest remaining tangerine peel.
- Slice the flat side from tangerine and juice it.
- Bring hoisin and Tamurai sauces to a simmer in a small saucepan, then add tangerine zest and juice. Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in Sriracha chili sauce.
When you say “remaining boiling water” for the tangerine sauce, what do you mean. Is the water poured over the duck to be retained for use in the sauce? If not, how much water should be used in the sauce?
I see the confusion. I will edit the recipe to make it more clear. You pour 9 cups of the boiling water over the legs. This helps to get the skin cooking so you don’t have to cook the meat as long.
The small tangerine peels get dropped into the last cup of boiling water. It softens them and helps remove any bitter flavor.
Thank you very much for reaching out so I can correct the recipe. ❤️