PEKINS DUCK RECIPES

Steps:

• Combine honey, soy sauce, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.
• In a large saucepan, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Meanwhile, remove giblets and neck from duck cavity and discard (or reserve for another use). Cut off excess fat from cavity and neck area, then cut off tail. (This helps balance the duck vertically over the beer can.)
• Using your fingers, carefully separate the skin from the breast meat through the bottom of the breasts and work your fingers upward to separate the skin from the meat (be careful not to tear skin). Next, separate the skin from the backbone through the neck and working your way down until you reach the legs. (Scissors are helpful, but be careful to avoid piercing the skin.) Transfer duck to a rack set in the sink.
• Using a ladle or measuring cup, pour half of the boiling water evenly over top of the duck. Flip duck and pour the remaining water evenly all over second side. Tilt duck to drain all water from the cavity, then pat dry with paper towels.
• In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder with 1 teaspoon salt, the black pepper and 1 tablespoon of the glaze. Rub the mixture inside the cavity. Stand duck vertically by inserting beer can into cavity and place in a roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining glaze all over the duck and sprinkle evenly with remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Place duck in the refrigerator, uncovered, until the skin feels dry and leathery, 24 hours.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees with rack in bottom third of oven. Remove duck from refrigerator, and add 1 1/2 cups water to the pan. Wrap wing tips and tips of drumsticks with foil to prevent burning, then loosely tent duck with foil. Roast for 15 minutes. Decrease temperature to 350 degrees and roast, tented with foil, until skin is mahogany and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes more, adding more water to the pan if needed.
• Leaving duck on the can, transfer duck vertically to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes. Carve the crispy skin from the back and legs of the duck, and slice into strips.
• Carefully remove duck from the beer can and return to cutting board. Carve off the breasts and legs; thinly slice the breasts and shred dark meat.
• Carefully strain pan juices into a small bowl and pour off all the fat. In another small bowl, whisk together the hoisin, sesame oil and up to 1/4 cup of the pan juices to form sauce.
• To serve, spread 1 tablespoon prepared sauce on each tortilla. Top each with some scallions, cucumbers, duck meat and crispy skin. Roll up and enjoy warm.

Steps:

• Inject the whole duck body with a small knife or fork and slowly pour hot water over it to rinse. Be careful at this step! Put the duck on a rack in a roasting pan and make it dry by using a paper towel to pat. Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly throughout the duck, then, leave it in the roasting pan until you are ready to cook.
• Mix the ingredients together, including honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, five-spice powder with 6 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Use a sauce brush to brush the whole duck, from inside out. Leave it dry in around 10 minutes and brush again. Repeat until the sauce is almost gone, leaving about 4-5 tablespoons for the graze, we will use it for the next step. Ideally, the graze should be marinated on the duck overnight and put it in the refrigerator.
• Put the duck in the oven which is heated at 350oF and cook for 45 minutes. Turn the duck over, water evenly with the leftover graze in step 2 and bake until the skin is crispy and golden brown, waiting for another 45 minutes. Make sure that you regularly check that the color skin is not getting too dark. If it is, just turn down the temperature and lower the rack of the oven. Remove the duck from the oven after it is cooked. Leave a roasted duck on a large plate while you do the sauce.
• Mix cornstarch with 1 teaspoon of cold water. Next, heat the pan, then add the ingredients in turn: hoisin sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and soy sauce. When the sauce is boiling slightly, gradually add the cornstarch and stir until it becomes clammy. Set aside and leave it cool.
• On a big plate, place a teaspoon of sauce in the middle of each Chinese pancake, carve some slices of duck, garnish with cucumbers and scallions to make the dish tastier. And then, let’s enjoy the juicy duck prepared by your talented hands.
• Slice 3 scallions into long thin strips Slice 1 cored cucumber into long thin strips 1 package of Chinese-style pancakes to serve with Peking duck About Chinese-style pancakes: Also called as Mandarin or Moo Shu pancakes. There are several methods on the Internet guiding you to make this pancake at home. But if you don’t have time, no worry, it is available at most big grocery stores.
• The way of serving Peking duck in a Chinese restaurant is very unique. The whole duck will be presented before slicing or it might be carved directly at your table in some restaurants. A whole duck can be sliced into about 120 thin slices with both flesh and skin. In the traditional way, Peking duck is always served with some components and ingredients such as pancakes, fresh cucumbers, plum sauce, shallots or scallions, and sometimes with garlic and sugar. The best way to enjoy this special food is by using your hands. Put a pancake on one hand, pick up a slice of duck and use it to drop the sauce on a pancake, add some more duck slices, cucumber, and scallions. Finally, nicely roll up the pancake and taste it. Yummy! How delicious it is! Peking duck is not recommended to eat in summer. In the summer, the weather is humid and crazily hot and surely that you don't like to enjoy greasy food in this hot season. As Chinese culinary theory, the best time to eat Peking duck is in spring, autumn and winter. Why? In winter and spring, the duck meat is very soft. And the ideal temperature, humidity of autumn is perfect to roast a juicy duck.
• You can easily search a lot of recipes of Peking duck, which is adapted and remixed to suit the individual’s preferences. We have tried some and found that this recipe brings flavors that closely resemble the traditional taste. The crispy golden skin with mouthwatering duck meat will impress your taste buds. Instead of taking a flight to Beijing, you can make and enjoy the Peking duck in your home with family and friends. Thanks for reading!