Peking Duck Recipe

Ingredients :

2.5 kg

40 pieces

6

1/2

2

Coating

1 tablespoon

1 teaspoon

1/2 teaspoon

Sauce

2 tablespoons

1 tablespoon

1 tablespoon

1 tablespoon

Chinese pancake (refer recipe)

Spring onions (scallions)

Cucumber, sliced

Red chilies

Malt sugar, honey or molasses

Cornflour

Vinegar

Hoisin sauce

Peanut butter

Sesame oil

Chinese yellow wine

Method :

Tie a piece of string around its neck. Pat dry.

Bring 25 cups of water to the boil and turn off the heat.

Put the duck into the water and turn it backwards and forwards for about 1 minute. Remove.

Bring the water to the boil again and repeat the previous step.

Do this twice more (total four times).

Hang the duck in a cool, draughty place for about 5 hours.

Mix the coating ingredients with 10 tablespoons hot water and brush the duck all over with the mixture.

Hang to dry for a further 4 hours and apply a second layer of coating.

Pre-heat the oven to 450oF / 230oC.

Put a roasting pan in the oven with a wire rack in it, making sure that there is a space of about 5 cm between the rack and the pan base.

Place the duck on the rack, breast side up, and roast for 8 minutes.

Turn the duck over using a towel, not a fork, and roast for a further 8 minutes.

Reduce the temperature to 350oF / 180oC and turn the duck breast side up again.

Roast for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 250oF / 120oC and roast for 10 minutes.

Increase the heat again to 450oF / 230oC and roast the duck for about 10 minutes.

At this point you have to watch carefully to make sure the skin of the duck does not burn.

5Turn off the heat once the skin has turned a rich deep red.

While the duck is roasting, prepare the Chinese pancakes. Refer to the Chinese pancakes recipe.

Cut the spring onions into 5 cm lengths, shred the tip of each piece and put it in iced water for 10 minutes. Cut the cucumber into similar lengths.

Decorate each piece with a red chili ring.

Blend together the sauce ingredients over a low heat.

Carve off the skin on the back of the duck.

Hold the knife horizontally and carve the skin and meat from the breast and legs, cutting at an angle of 15o.

Arrange the skin and meat on a large plate and serve it with pancakes and cucumber, spring onions and the sauce.

Note : Diners help themselves. They place one pancake flat on a plate, put a piece of duck in the center, dip a spring onion (scallion) in the sauce and put it on top of the duck, wrap it up and eat it. The contrast of textures and taste is delicious.