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Asian Recipes
Peking Duck
INGREDIENTS
2.5 kg Duck
40 pieces Chinese pancake (refer recipe)
6 Spring onions (scallions)
1/2 Cucumber, sliced
2 Red chilies
Coating:
1 tbsp Malt sugar, honey or molasses
1 tsp Cornflour
1/2 tsp Vinegar
Sauce:
2 tbsp Hoisin sauce
1 tbsp Peanut butter
1 tbsp Sesame oil
1 tbsp Chinese yellow wine
PREPARATION
Clean the duck, removing and discarding any excess fat in the
cavity.
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 450°F / 230°C.
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 350°F / 180°C and turn the
duck breast side up again.
Roast for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 250°F / 120°C
and roast for 10 minutes.
Increase the heat again to 450°F / 230°C 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.
Turn 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 15°.
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.
