Chinese Peking Duck

This recipe produces an incredibly tasty dish without the long and complex steps (think blowing up skin like a balloon and 3 days of hanging) that it takes to make it with traditional methods. The key to an amazing Peking duck is the crispy skin. Soft duck meat and crispy skin pieces are eaten rolled in Mandarin pancakes with hoisin sauce, shreds of scallion, and cucumber. Components can be out separately allowing each dinner to roll their own. The duck carcass can be used to make a duck soup and loose meat shreds can be stir fried with noodles and vegetables.

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Course: Hand Food, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese, Northern China

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 4 20

Cold drying: 10

Total Time: 14 40

Servings:

Author: My Hungry Traveler

Equipment

Large saucepan or pot
small saucepan
Roasting pan
Wire baking rack
Pastry brush

Ingredients

5 lb Duck
1 tsp Baking soda
½ tsp Kosher salt
2 tbsp Honey
2 tbsp Maple syrup
3 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (SUB: another white wine)
¼ cup Water
1 large Cucumber
½ bunch Scallions
½ cup Hoisin sauce
10 whole Mandarin (Chinese) pancakes Homemade Mandarin pancakes

US Customary - Metric

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Instructions

Prep Duck - Rinse duck and then pat dry. Remove any fat pockets and neck. Place duck on a wire rack in the sink. Boil 3 cups water in large saucepan or tea pot. Pour half the boiling water over the duck. Turn duck over a pour remaining boiling water over. Pat duck dry and poke small holes all over with a knife tip or skewer.
Coat and Marinate Duck - Mix baking powder and salt together. Sprinkle over all sides of the duck. Simmer soy sauce, rice wine, water, honey and maple syrup in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook for 8-10 minutes until a thick syrup forms. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Brush the duck all over with the syrup.
Transfer duck in rack to a baking pan. Refrigerate overnight, uncovered, at least 8 hours.
Roast Duck - Remove duck from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat oven to 375℉ (190℃). Cook duck for around 80 minutes. The skin should be dark brown and crispy. Duck is ready when an instant thermometer reads 160℉ when inserted into the thickest part of a breast. Loosely tent duck with tin foil and let rest for 20-30 minutes on a cutting board.
Serve - While duck is resting, warm mandarin pancakes wrapped in moist paper towels in the microwave for 15 seconds. Slice scallions and cucumber into 2-inch slivers. Put hoisin sauce in a small bowl.
Slice duck thin and arrange on a platter with folded pancake, scallion and/or cucumber slivers, and hoisin. Diners can assemble their own by putting some hoisin along the middle of a pancake and the adding duck meat, skin, scallions and cucumber on top. Roll and eat. Groans of pleasure are optional.

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