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Yummy,
yummy, Peking duck. One of my favourite preparations of duck, even the
duck cowards tend to make an exception for this one.
Historically,
only the skin was served in this regal dish which would be fine with
me, but in the interest of stretching the duck to serve a group, the
common practise is to serve the meat and skin.
When you buy a Peking
duck in a Chinese deli, the duck has usually been hanging for awhile.
It's delicious, but the skin tends to get a bit tough and the
subcutaneous fat pulls away and shrinks. So if you make it yourself (or
order it in a higher end Chinese restaurant) you can enjoy the crispy
skin with the succulent fat and tender meat.
The best time to
make a Peking duck is when the weather is cool and breezy (and
preferably dry). Outside temperatures under 10C is safest when you're
hanging the duck and the breeze assists in drying out the skin. Also be
sure to hang the duck where animals and insects won't be tempted to
jump for it.
Ingredients:
Duck
1 young duck (about 2 kg)
125 ml honey
25 g ginger root
Butcher's twine
Pancakes
500 ml AP flour
100 ml boiling water
5 ml sesame oil
Sauce
200 ml Hoi Sin Sauce
100 ml water
20 ml sesame oil
30 ml honey
Green Onion Brushes garnish
1 bunch Green Onions
Ice water
Preparing and roasting the duck:
Remove the neck, liver and kidneys from the duck, set aside for another
use or discard (or feed to your cat and be loved forever). Rinse the
duck with cold water, drain and pat dry with a towel. Having selected a
dry and preferably breezy, exterior location to hang your duck, select
an appropriate amount of butcher's twine to hang your duck. Tie and
secure the twine under the wings of the duck. Hang the duck and leave
it to dry for approximately 2 hours (increase time if it's not windy,
or hook up a fan to reduce time).
In a large stock pot (big enough
to cover your whole duck) add enough water to cover a duck, the honey
and the ginger. When the time on the duck is nearly up, bring the water
to a boil. Fetch the duck, keeping the twine in place. With a tray
nearby to catch drips, blanch the whole duck in the boiling liquid for
1-2 min. Remove the duck from the liquid, allowing excess water to
drain. Hang the duck up again outside for another 90 min. If you don't
want to make a mess, put the tray under the duck to catch drips.
Preheat
your oven to 400F. Bring your duck inside and place in a roasting pan
breast up. Roast for 45 min. Remove from oven and carefully loosen the
duck from the pan, so the skin doesn't tear. Rotate duck the breast is
down. Return to oven lower temperature to 350F and cook for 30-45 min
(until the skin is golden). Remove from oven and carefully turn the
duck over so the breast is facing upwards. Return to oven and raise
temperature to 375F. Roast for another 45 min. Remove from oven and
allow to stand for 20 min before carving.
Slice in small pieces
suitable for placing in the pancakes with the sauce and green onions.
It should be about the size of a taco.
Preparing the pancakes:
Place the flour in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the
boiling water and stir with a wooden spoon until mixed. The dough will
be hot, so carefully, knead the dough for 10 min and until it is very
elastic. (The hot water allows the dough to become glutinous, similar
to the choux paste method). Set aside and allow to rest for at least 15
min.
Divide the dough into 24 little balls. Adding additional flour
as required roll out the pancakes into very thin pancakes.
Concurrently, heat a cast iron frying pan and season it with the sesame
oil and a paper towel. At med-high heat fry the pancakes until light
brown spots appear, flip them over and when they fill with air, remove
them from the pan. Wrap in aluminum foil until needed. Do not add any
additional oil.
Preparing the sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to simmer over low heat. Remove from the heat and serve.
Preparing the garnish:
Trim the green onions, removing the root portion and the green shoots.
With the remaining piece of the onion, make multiple short incisions in
either of the onion, leaving the centre intact. Carefully, cut the
onion in half so that it doesn't fall apart. Plunge the onions into a
bowl of ice water and place in the fridge for thirty minutes. The
onions will curl where the incisions were made, creating little brushes
to apply the sauce to the pancake.
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