Chicken Peking Duck Style Food

PEKING DUCK WITH HONEY AND FIVE-SPICE GLAZE

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.

PEKING DUCK

Steps:

• Place all the honey syrup ingredients in a large pan with 1.2 litres water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 20 mins.
• Meanwhile, rinse the duck well, blot it completely dry with kitchen paper, then put it on a rack in a roasting tin. Using a ladle, pour the syrup over the duck several times until the skin is completely coated on all sides. Leave the duck to dry out, uncovered, in the fridge overnight. When the duck has dried, the skin should feel like parchment paper.
• Heat oven to 240C/220C fan/gas 9. Sit the duck breast-side up on the rack in the roasting tin. Add 150ml water to the tin to prevent the fat from spattering, then roast in the oven for 15 mins. Reduce the heat to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and continue to roast for 1 hr 10 mins.
• Remove the duck from the oven and let it sit for at least 10 mins before you carve it. Using a cleaver or a sharp knife, cut the skin and meat into pieces and arrange them on a warm serving platter. Or, if you prefer, shred the meat using two forks.
• Serve at once with the pancakes, spring onions and a bowl of hoisin sauce.

PEKING DUCK

Steps:

• The *malt sugar called for in this recipe resembles honey.
• This and the other Oriental condiments are available in Oriental food stores.
• Clean the duck and place in a basin.
• Boil a large kettle of water and pour it over the duck, dousing it thoroughly.
• Remove the bird immediately and dry it inside and out with a paper towel.
• Hang it by the neck overnight in an airy place.
• Dissolve the malt sugar in the soy sauce and rub the duck with this mixture.
• When this coating has dried, place the duck on a wire rack in a roasting pan and put it in an oven, preheated to 375°F to roast for 1 hour.
• Do not baste the duck or open the oven door.
• While the duck is roasting, make the pancakes.
• Put the flour in a bowl and gradually add the boiling water.
• Mix well with a wooden spoon, but do not knead the dough.
• Cover with a cloth and leave stand for 20 minutes.
• Form the dough into a long roll about 2 inches in diameter.
• Cut off 1/2 inch rounds from the roll.
• Roll the rounds into balls and flatten them into round cakes 1/4 inch thick.
• When you have used up the dough, dust each cake with flour and roll it out into a paper thin pancake.
• Lightly brush a heavy skillet with oil, and cook the pancakes over low heat for 1 1/4 minutes on each side.
• They are ready when parts of the pancakes start to curl and bubble slightly.
• Stack the cooked pancakes and cover with a damp cloth until required.
• To serve the duck, first slice off the crisp skin in 1-2 inch squares and then slice off the meat.
• Place the skin and the meat on two separate warmed dishes and bring to the table.
• The plum sauce, the bean paste, the scallions and the cucumber strips should all be laid out in separate small dishes.
• Spread a spoonful of sauce on each pancake, lay strips of cucumber and scallions down the center, add duck skin and meat, and roll up the pancake.
• After the duck carcass has been stripped of its meat, it is usually boiled with a large amount of cabbage and traditionally served as a soup to end the meal.

AUTHENTIC CHINESE 5-SPICE PEKING DUCK

Steps:

• thaw duck overnight in refrigerator.
• remove giblets and trim excess fat from tail area or anywhere hanging.
• pierce chopstick or skewer under wing and bring through to other side to pierce through under the other wing on the other side in order to give you a way to dunk and hang duck. wings may be removed if desired.
• in large wok or pot bring water to a boil.
• add in ginger, vinegar, soy sauce, xiao xing, and honey and stir to dissolve honey completely.
• make a slurry with cornstarch (mix with water) then add to boiling mixture.
• dunk duck into boiling mixture and spoon liquid over duck for a couple of minutes making sure you completely moisten duck and render some fat.
• repeat process for another couple of minutes.
• immediately hang duck in cool room with a fan on high pointed directly on duck. make sure you put a pot or similar under duck to catch drippings.
• rotate duck to ensure even drying. should take about 5 hours. skin will become taunt and tight.
• after 4-6 hours, rub duck with 5-spice powder to taste.
• heat oven to 375 degrees.
• place duck onto roasting or cooling rack on middle or top rack of oven with a large pan filled with about 2 inches of water on bottom rack of a 375 degree oven. this will catch any drippings, keep your oven clean, and keep duck moist.
• roast uncovered for about 1-1 1/2 hours rotating it 2-3 times.
• check internal temperature for doneness. mine was perfect at 175 degrees in the breast. note that convection ovens will cook duck quite fast.
• remove duck and rest 10 minutes before serving whole or chopping Chinese style on the bone.

PEKING-STYLE CHICKEN

Steps:

• Pare the zest from the orange in thick strips then mix with the soy sauce, sherry and fivespice powder in a large food bag. Bash the garlic cloves and ginger with the back of a knife to bruise them, then add to the bag and give everything a good mix. Put the chicken in the bag, rub the marinade all over the flesh then leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 3 hrs, overnight ideally.
• Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Remove the chicken from the marinade (keep it for later). Halve the orange and put both halves inside the cavity along with the bashed ginger and garlic from the marinade. With the chicken sitting on a rack in the sink, pour a kettleful of boiling water over it. Pat completely dry with kitchen paper. Set the chicken on its wire rack over a roasting tray and roast for 50 mins per kg or until the juices run clear when the thigh is pierced with a skewer.
• Strain the marinade into a pan along with the honey. Bring up to the boil then simmer for a couple of mins. Just before serving, turn the oven up as high as it will go. Brush some of the marinade all over the chicken. Return to the oven and cook until the chicken is crisp and browned. This will only take a couple of mins. Leave to rest, uncovered, for 5 mins. Serve with the remaining warmed marinade, some plain rice and bok choi or spinach stirfried with a little garlic and oyster sauce.

PEKING DUCK

Steps:

• Rinse the duck inside and out, and pat dry. Cut off tail and discard. In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, white pepper and cloves. Sprinkle one teaspoon of the mixture into the cavity of the duck. Stir one tablespoon of the soy sauce into the remaining spice mixture and rub evenly over the entire outside of the bird. Cut one of the green onions in half and tuck inside the cavity. Cover and refrigerate the bird for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
• Place duck breast side up on a rack in a big enough wok or pot and steam for an hour adding a little more water, if necessary, as it evaporates. Lift duck with two large spoons, and drain juices and green onion.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place duck breast side up in a roasting pan and prick skin all over using a fork.
• Roast for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. While the duck is roasting, mix together the remaining 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and honey. After 30 minutes, brush the honey mixture onto the duck and return it to the oven. Turn the heat up to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Roast for 5 minutes, or until the skin is richly browned. Do not allow the skin to char.
• Prepare the duck sauce by mixing the plum jam with the sugar, vinegar and chutney in a small serving bowl. Chop remaining green onions and place them into a separate bowl. Place whole duck onto a serving platter and garnish with orange slices and fresh parsley. Use plum sauce and onions for dipping.