Char Siu
Cantonese roast pork made in a home oven or air fryer, with a sticky, caramelised edge and no barbecue pit.
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Cantonese Roast Goose
A whole goose, inflated, glazed with malt-vinegar skin water, air-dried, then roasted in two heats until the skin shatters and the meat stays juicy. Adapted for a home kitchen from the original ClouChef R&D report — 烧鹅, report 22.
Original poster image from clouchef.com (poster: 烧鹅_22.jpeg). This is the hero poster only, not a step-by-step photo set.
Prep: 5 hours (mostly drying)Cook: 30 minutesTotal: 5 hours 30 minutesServings: 6–8Difficulty: AdvancedRegion: CantoneseFlavour: Savoury-roast (five-spice and malt glaze)
Why this works
Roast goose skin is a physics problem before it is a recipe: the skin must be separated from the flesh, tightened, glazed and dried before heat ever touches it, or it will never crisp. Inflating the bird through the neck opening lifts the skin away from the meat so hot air can render the fat beneath it; a ten-second boiling-water scald then tightens the pores, and two coats of malt-sugar and vinegar skin water give the colour and the glassy finish. Drying — four to six hours at room temperature, or two with a fan — is the step home cooks most often skip and the one that matters most: any dampness left on the skin steams instead of roasting and leaves blisters. The roast itself is two heats, a fierce fifteen minutes to set and colour the skin, then a gentler fifteen to finish the meat, followed by a five-minute rest that keeps the juices in the bird instead of on the board.
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Ingredients
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Substitute / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goose, cleaned (about 2.5 kg) | 5.5 lb | 2.5 kg | A whole goose; black-brown goose per the report. A duck can be roasted the same way at a smaller scale (adaptation). |
| Maltose | 3.5 oz | 100 g | For the skin water. |
| White vinegar (9° rice vinegar) | 1¼ cups | 300 ml | For the skin water. |
| Water, for the skin water | About 7 tbsp | 100 ml | — |
| Star anise | 1 tsp | 5 g | For the seasoning; the report lists braising spices without a step — rub them inside the cavity as the home adaptation used here. |
| Cinnamon | ½ tsp | 3 g | For the cavity seasoning. |
| Bay leaves | 2 leaves | 2 g | For the cavity seasoning. |
| Salt | 1 tbsp | 15 g | For the cavity seasoning. |
| Light soy sauce | 2 tbsp | 30 ml | For the cavity seasoning. |
| Plum sauce, to serve | 1 small dish | 30 g | Or braising liquid, per the report. |
Equipment
- Roasting oven with a rack and drip tray
- Air pump or bicycle pump with a clean nozzle, for inflating (a home adaptation of the report's pump)
- Hook or string for hanging while drying
- Meat thermometer
Steps
- Inflate the goose. Using a clean air pump through the neck opening, inflate the goose until the skin separates evenly from the flesh, without tearing the skin. This separation is what lets the skin crisp.
- Scald and glaze. Pour boiling water over the goose for 10 seconds to tighten the pores. Mix the maltose, white vinegar and water and warm to 40 °C until dissolved. Brush evenly over the whole bird, twice, leaving no patch uncoated. The maltose-to-vinegar-to-water ratio is 1:3:1.
- Dry completely. Hang the goose in a ventilated place at room temperature for 4–6 hours, or about 2 hours with a fan, until the skin is completely dry and smooth to the touch, with no tackiness. Do not roast a damp bird.
- Roast in two heats. Preheat the oven to top heat 220 °C and bottom heat 200 °C (or 220 °C with fan if your oven has a single setting — home adaptation). Roast for 15 minutes to set and colour the skin, then lower to top 180 °C and bottom 160 °C (or 180 °C) and roast for 15 minutes more. The thickest meat must reach at least 75 °C / 167 °F; if it has not, continue roasting at the lower heat and check every 5 minutes.
- Rest and carve. Rest for 5 minutes so the juices redistribute. Carve into neat pieces and serve with plum sauce or braising liquid.
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Technique: dry skin, two heats
Every roast-bird failure traces back to moisture: wet skin steams, and a single constant heat either burns the skin before the meat cooks or cooks the meat while the skin stays soft. The two-heat roast solves the second problem, but only the drying step solves the first. If your kitchen is humid, dry the bird in front of a fan or in the fridge overnight uncovered — the fridge's dry air works well, though it adds hours.
Variations
- Duck version: use a 2–2.5 kg duck, halve the skin water, and roast 20 minutes at 220 °C then 20 minutes at 180 °C (adaptation).
- Half goose: roast a half goose at the same temperatures for about 20 minutes total, checking the temperature (adaptation).
Frequently asked questions
Why inflate the goose?
To separate skin from flesh so fat renders under the skin and the skin crisps instead of sticking to the meat.
Why is my skin blistered, not crisp?
It was not fully dry before roasting, or the first heat was too low. Dry until smooth and tack-free, and start at 220 °C.
Can I use a regular home oven?
Yes — the report's top and bottom heats translate to a single 220 °C then 180 °C setting, as noted in the steps.
Storage and freezing
Best eaten fresh from the oven; the skin softens within hours. Leftovers keep 2 days refrigerated; re-crisp in a hot oven until steaming hot. Cooked goose meat freezes well for 1 month, but the skin will not re-crisp fully.
Cantonese Roast Goose — Recipe Card
Whole goose, glazed and dried, roasted until the skin shatters.
Prep: 5 hours (mostly drying)Cook: 30 minutesTotal: 5 hours 30 minutesServings: 6–8
Ingredients: 1 goose (2.5 kg); skin water: 100 g maltose, 300 ml white vinegar, 100 ml water; cavity: 5 g star anise, 3 g cinnamon, 2 g bay leaves, 15 g salt, 30 ml soy sauce; 30 g plum sauce to serve.
Steps: 1) Inflate goose. 2) Scald and glaze twice. 3) Dry 4–6 hours. 4) Roast two heats, 15 + 15 minutes. 5) Rest 5 minutes, carve and serve.
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Source note: ingredients, quantities and steps are adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report for 烧鹅 (data/reports/22.md). The report's pricing, margin and marketing sections are deliberately omitted here; no B2B cost is presented as a home-cook cost. The report's cost tables disagree with each other (an ingredient total of 81.60 against a summary of 63.05), so no cost figures are reproduced. The cavity-seasoning placement, the single-oven translation and the serving size are adaptations and are labelled as such. Original poster image: clouchef.com (烧鹅_22.jpeg).