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Peking Duck

Peking Duck

Serves: to serve 4 - 6

Prep Time: 30 Minutes + waiting

Cook Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Ready In: 2 hrs
+ waiting

ingredients
1 x 3½ - 4 lb - whole duck (fresh or frozen)

FOR THE HONEY SYRUP MIX

1 - lemon

2½ pints - water

3 tablespoons - honey

3 tablespoons - dark soy sauce

5 fl oz - dry sherry or rice wine

TO SERVE

6 - 8 - hoisin sauce

10 - spring onions (a.k.a. scallions or salad onions)

1 - small cucumber

directions
  1. If the duck is frozen, thaw it thoroughly. Rinse the duck well and blot it completely dry with kitchen paper. Insert a meat hook near the neck.
  2. Cut the lemon into ¼" (5mm) slices, leaving the rind on. In a large pan, combine the lemon slices with the water, honey. dark soy sauce and dry sherry or rice wine. Bring the mixture to a boil then turn the heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.
  3. Pour this mixture over the duck several times, as if to bathe it, until all of the skin is completely coated with the mixture. Hang the duck in a cool, well-ventilated place to dry for 4-or-5 hours (longer if possible). Once the duck has dried, the surface of the skin will feel like parchment.
  4. Preheat the oven to Mk 9 - 475ºF - 240ºC. Meanwhile, place the duck on a rack in a roasting pan, breast side up. Put ¼ pint (150ml) of water into the roasting pan to prevent the fat from splattering. Now put the duck into the oven and roast it for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to Mk 4 - 350ºF - 180ºC and continue to roast for 1¼ hours.
  5. Meanwhile, use a sharp knife to cut the spring onions (scallions) into 2" (5cm) long pieces and sliced finely long-ways. Peel the cucumber and cut into thin sticks about 2" (5cm) long. You can also use the duck's cooking time to make the Chinese Pancakes which can be kept warm or reheated when needed.
  6. When cooked, remove the duck from the oven and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before you serve it. Using a cleaver or sharp knife, cut the skin and meat into pieces and arrange them on a warm platter. Serve immediately with Chinese Pancakes, thin spring onion and cucumber sticks and a bowl of hoisin sauce.