Peking Dust Glazed Fruit Food

PEKING-STYLE ROAST TURKEY WITH MOLASSES-SOY GLAZE AND ORANGE-GINGER GRAVY

Steps:

• Steam the turkey:
• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Season the inside of the turkey with salt and pepper and tie the legs together. In the bottom of a large pot fitted with a small round rack or crumpled foil, bring 8 cups water to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and lower the turkey into the pot. Cover and steam for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in 1/2 cup orange juice, soy sauce, molasses, vinegar, and 5-spice powder. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the glaze is slightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Roast the turkey:
• In a large roasting pan, toss the scallions, celery, and reserved orange peels with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Fit a roasting rack over the vegetables and place the turkey on top. Brush all over with the glaze, lower oven to 350°F, and roast the turkey, basting every 20 minutes, until a thermometer inserted in the thigh registers 165°F, about 2 hours. If the turkey is browning too quickly, tent with a piece of foil. Let the turkey rest about 20 minutes before carving.
• Make the gravy:
• While the turkey is cooking, in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, heat the oil. Add the turkey neck, gizzard, and liver and cook until browned on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes, flipping occasionally; season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat to medium and add the shallot, garlic, ginger, cloves, star anise, and allspice, and cook until the vegetables are softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the stock is flavorful and slightly reduced, about 1 hour. Strain the broth into a large clean saucepan and set aside on the stovetop to keep warm.
• In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and whisk to combine. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, until butter mixture is browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk in the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until gravy is thickened, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Once the turkey has been removed from the roasting pan, strain the drippings into the pot with the gravy, discarding the solids. Place the roasting pan over two burners over medium-high heat. Pour in the wine and orange juice and bring to a boil. Scrape up brown bits on the bottom of the pan, and cook until reduced, about 1 minute. Pour pan juices into the gravy. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the turkey.

PEKING DUCK

Steps:

• For the duck: Prick the duck all over with a small knife or fork. Carefully pour hot water over the duck to rinse. Discard the hot water. Place the duck on a rack in a roasting pan and dry all over by patting it with paper towels. Sprinkle the duck with salt and pepper and leave it in the roasting pan until ready to cook.
• In a small bowl, mix together the honey, 6 tablespoons water, five-spice, soy sauce and brown sugar. Brush the duck all over, inside and out. Let dry for about 10 minutes and then brush again. Repeat this process until you have used all but 4 to 5 tablespoons of the glaze (reserve this glaze). Ideally, let the glaze marinate on the duck overnight, leaving it uncovered in the fridge.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the duck in the oven and cook for 45 minutes. Flip the duck over, baste with the reserved glaze and cook until the skin is crisp and golden brown, another 45 minutes. Make sure you check halfway through that it is not getting too dark. If it is getting too dark before half the cook time is up, turn your heat down and lower the rack in the oven. When the duck is cooked, remove from the oven and let rest while you make your sauce.
• For the sauce: In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon cold water and set aside. Next, heat a pan or wok over medium heat and add the hoisin, sugar, sesame oil and soy sauce. When the sauce starts to bubble slightly, add the cornstarch mixture and stir well to thicken. Set aside and let cool. Carve and slice some duck. Place a teaspoon of the sauce in the center of each pancake, add a couple slices of duck, garnish with the scallions and cucumbers and serve immediately.

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:

• 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.

ORANGE PEKING DUCK

Steps:

• Make syrup:
• Bring syrup ingredients to a boil in a heavy saucepan, stirring, then simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes.
• Season duck:
• While syrup is simmering, fold neck skin of duck under body and fasten with a small skewer.
• Stir together five-spice powder, salt, and pepper, then rub inside cavity. Put duck on a rack set in a roasting pan.
• Coat and dry duck:
• Ladle hot syrup over duck (do not ladle any into cavity), turning duck occasionally to coat all over. Discard syrup in roasting pan and set duck, breast side up, on rack in pan. Prop rack up over a short edge of pan so duck is tilted (large-cavity side down) to facilitate draining of any moisture it gives off. (To prevent rack from slipping, put a piece of crumpled plastic wrap between pan and rack.)
• Dry duck, uncovered and chilled in refrigerator, 3 days.
• Roast duck:
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Let duck stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
• Remove plastic wrap and set rack back into pan. Stuff duck with orange quarters and ginger and close cavity opening with a wooden skewer. Prick duck all over with tip of a sharp paring knife and pour 1 cup water into pan.
• Roast duck in middle of oven 1 1/2 hours. Increase oven temperature to 450°F and roast until skin is dark brown and very crisp and a thermometer inserted in thick part of thigh registers 170°F, 25 to 30 minutes more.
• Transfer duck to a heated serving platter and remove cavity skewer. Let stand 30 minutes before carving.

PEKING DUST: GLAZED FRUIT

Steps:

• 1. Shell and blanch almonds. Peel oranges and separate into segments. Rub a serving platter generously with peanut oil. 2. Combine sugar, water and light corn syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring, over medium heat. 3. Dip nuts and fruit, one piece at a time, into the syrup to coat. Place on the oiled serving platter to cool and harden. The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.