Delicious, aromatic, and roasted slowly, Peking Duck is an absolute classic on most Chinese restaurant and takeaway menus in the UK.
Serves 4 - 6 depending on how many other dishes you serve!
Make the soaking liquid first: The liquid needs to cool, so make it around an hour before you want to soak the duck.
Measure everything together into a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
When the soaking liquid is cool, you can prepare the duck. Remove anything that may be in the cavity. Wash the duck in clean cold water and pat the duck with kitchen paper to dry it as much as possible.
Prepare, baste and refrigerate the duck: when the soaking liquid has cooled, pour it into the baking tray you will be using.
Place the duck in the liquid, breast side down. Leave it for 5 minutes. Baste the duck with the liquid and then turn the duck over.
Baste this side of the duck and leave for a further 5 minutes.
Remove the duck from the baking tray, pour out the soaking liquid, wash the tray and insert a rack. Place the duck on the rack, breast side up and place in the fridge, uncovered, for 24 hours to allow time for the skin to dry.
When you are ready to cook it, remove from the fridge. The duck skin should feel like parchment. Swill out any blood which may have dripped into the base of the dish and dry out the cavity of the bird with kitchen towel.
Preheat oven to Fan Oven 180°C/200°C/400°F/Gas 6
Prepare the spice mix: if you are using Sichuan peppercorns, (as opposed to powder) heat a frying pan over a moderate heat and add the peppercorns. Heat for 1 – 2 minutes until the peppercorns are aromatic. Shake the pan from time to time to ensure the peppercorns heat evenly.
Tip the peppercorns into a spice blender and blitz until they make a powder.
Simply measure the spice ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
You now need to rub the spices into the cavity of the duck; the easiest way to do this is with your hand.
Place the duck back onto the rack in the baking tray and pour the water into the base of the tray.
Cook the duck in the centre of the for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn the temperature of the oven down to Fan Oven 150°C/170°C/325°F/Gas 4.
The duck will be a very dark brown when cooked but do keep an eye on it to make sure it does not get too brown. I cook mine using the fan function and place an oven rack above the duck with a baking tray on top to prevent some of the direct heat over browning it. Alternatively, place some foil very loosely over the duck if you are worried it will become too brown. There is no need to base the duck, just let it cook and check it to make sure it does not get too brown.
When the duck is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before shredding.
Prepare the pancakes, spring onion and cucumber: heat the pancakes in accordance with packet instructions.
Trim and wash the spring onions and finely slice into lengths around 4-5cms long.
Wash the cucumber and slice into thin batons also around 4-5cms long.
To serve: just before you serve the duck, transfer to a heated plate. Using 2 forks, simply shred the soft meat. Remove the bones but the crispy skin is utterly delicious.
Serve at the table with the hot pancakes, hoisin sauce, spring onions and cucumber.
Simply spread some hoisin sauce over the base of the pancake and top with some duck, spring onion and cucumber. Roll up and eat! Simply amazing.
Equipment:
Some ingredients are hard to find. Here are some suggested replacements:
How long should I cook the duck for?
You should calculate the cooking time so that the duck comes out of the oven 15 minutes before you want to eat it. It is important the duck has time to rest before you shred it.
To calculate to how long to cook your duck, you simply need to cook it for 30 minutes at the higher temperature. Reduce the temperature and continue to cook the duck for 30 minutes per 500g/6 minutes per 100g. My duck weighed 2.8kg so I cooked it for: