Intro
For this recipe I wanted to recreate a far easier version of Peking duck by combining various cooking methods such as frying, braking and roasting. I find that by incorporating these 3 methods you enable maximum flavour to infuse into the duck and cut the overall preparation time right down. This process will take around 2 days in total as we need to slightly dry out the skin, however, the end result will be defiantly worth it.
Method
Day 1
Duck prep:
1. Let’s begin by seasoning the cavity of the duck. To make up a dry rub in a small bowl add 2 tbsps Chinese 5 spice, 1/2 tbsp garlic salt, 1/2 tsp onion salt and 1 tbsp of brown sugar. Mix well then open up the cavity towards the legs then add the dry rub to the cavity only. Next add 1 heaped tbsp of Chu Hou paste or hoisin, 5g of sliced ginger, 2 whole spring onions, 2 slices of orange peel, 2 garlic cloves and 2 star aniseed. Adding this to the cavity will not only season the duck but will also create a fragrant aroma during cooking.
2. Next we need to tie up the cavity, take a small bamboo skewer then weeve in between the skin to enclose the cavity. When sealed place a large wok or pan half full of water onto a high heat and bring to the boil. When boiling gather the duck from the neck side and briefly coat in the boiling water. This sounds super risky but i find using a ladle to baste the duck whilst holding onto the neck side makes things far easier. After 5 or minutes of basting the skin of the duck should now have become much tighter and it is this is what we are looking for. Remove the duck from the water then place to one side to briefly dry.
Glaze:
3. Now that the duck is drying out we can move onto making the glaze that we will baste the duck. In a small bowl add 1 tbsp of maltose or 2 tbsps of honey, 3 tbsps light soy, 2 tbsps dark soy and 3 tbsps of rice wine. Place the bowl into a small pan filled slightly with water and place onto a medium heat. Stir the glaze to dissolve the maltose then when ready remove the bowl from the heat. Use a brush to now glaze all sides of the duck making sure to evenly coat. in between the wings and legs also. When evenly coated place onto a wire rack on top of a tray then store in the fridge uncovered overnight to air dry.
Day 2
Cook the Duck:
4. The following day the duck is now ready to cook. By this point the skin should have tightened up and ready to crisp up. Place a large wok or pan onto a high heat and add a good amount of cooking oil (enough to cover 1-4 of the duck). To make this step far safer run two large bamboo skewers through the neck part of the duck acting as a handle. When the temperature of the oil reaches 170-180 degrees centigrade carefully lay the duck into the hot oil and begin to fry the skin. Use a ladle to baste the duck then continue to fry until nice and golden brown. This step should take around 10-15 minutes. When ready carfelly remove the duck from the oil and allow to drain onto wire rack.
Braise:
5. Time to braise, the next step of cooking this duck is to inject even more flavour. In a dry wok pan add 3 garlic cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks, 5g of sliced ginger, 2 star anise, 1 tsp juniper berries, 2 slices of orange peel and 1 tbsp of sichuan peppercorns. Dry fry the spices for 1-2 minutes until nice and fragrant then remove from the heat and place the toasted spices to one side. To start the braise in the same wok or pan add 10g of rock sugar and place onto a medium heat. When the sugar dissolves and starts to caramelise we can go ahead and add 1 litre of water then bring the liquid up to a boil. When boiling we can now add 4 tbsps rice wine, 3 tbsps light soy, 3 tbsps dark soy, 3 tbsps pf chu hou paste or hoisin and 3 tbsps of fermented beancurd (optional). Finally add the toasted spices to the braise and were ready to go.
6. To the braise we now want to add the duck and cover in the braise as much as possible. Allow the duck to braise for 45 minutes whilst rotating in the braise and basting every 15 minutes to ensure an even cook. When braised the duck should have absorbed all of the braises aroma and we can now go ahead and remove the duck and place onto a cooling rack over a baking tray. Allow the duck to sit for 15-20 minutes to slightly dry from the braising liquid. For the braise left over turn the heat up to high then reduce until the flavour becomes intensified. When reduced pass through a fine sieve and keep this to one side as we will use this to finish the duck at the very end.
Roast the Duck:
7. All thats left to now is to finish the duck in a final roast and if you have made it this far then your in for a treat! When the duck has become slightly dryer pre heat an oven to 170 degrees centigrade then when hot add the duck. Roast the duck for 45 minutes or until cooked rotating occasionally to ensure an even roast. When ready, remove from the oven and place to one side to rest for at least 20 minutes.
Finish the Duck:
8. All thats left to do now is to serve, to give the duck a nice gloss and a touch of sweetness I like to glaze over the skin with a touch of honey thats diluted in a small amount of water. When ready either carve traditionally or cut the duck on the bone Chinese style. I live to serve this with the braise on the side over some steamed rice and leafy vegetables. Im sure when you finally dig in you will soon realise that all the effort was definitely worth it!
Additional notes
Regarding the braise and frying part of this recipe you could skip this and opt in to simply only roast it, however, to do this successfully you really want to be drying out the duck for 3-4 days instead of overnight and hanging it up to drip if possible during the drying phase. As for what else to apply this recipes method to then goose would also be a great option, however, you may need some fairly large pans. I hope you like this recipe, have fun and peace as always!
Ingredients
Serves 4-5
Total Cook Time: 3 hours
Marinade Time: 12 hours
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Key Ingredients
- 1 Whole Duck
- 1 tbsp maltose or 2 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp light soy
- 2 tbsp dark soy
- 3 tbsp rice wine
Seasoning
- 2 tbsp Chinese 5 spice
- 1/2 tbsp garlic salt
- 1/2 tsp onion salt
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 star anise
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 5g ginger
- 2 spring onions
- 2 slices orange peel
- 1 tbsp Chu Hou paste
Braise
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 slices orange peel
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 5g ginger
- 2 star anise
- 1 tsp juniper berries
- 1 tbsp sichuan peppercorns
- 10g rock sugar
- 1l water
- 4 tbsp rice wine
- 3 tbsp light soy
- 3 tbsp dark soy
- 3 tbsp Chu Hou paste or Hoisin
- 3 tbsp fermented beancurd (optional)
