Easy Homemade Peking Duck

Elena Butuc

The most popular Chinese food - Peking Duck, is practically impossible or very difficult to reproduce at home. The whole duck is scalded, drained and then baked in a special oven. There are chefs who specialize only in this dish and you can imagine that each has their own secret. But what are we to do, the ordinary consumers who don't afford to eat the exemplary cooked Peking duck? Well, we adapt. We simply make it in house conditions and, I'm telling you, it won't be different from the classic Peking duck. Before editing the recipe, I insisted on tasting Peking Duck in a Chinese restaurant in Bucharest and I can honestly tell you that the one cooked at home seemed much better to me!

Meat slices are necessarily served with Chinese Peking Duck Pancakes, greased with Plum Sauce or Hoisin Sauce, with green onions and cucumbers. This is the classic way and we really liked it. I managed to impress my husband and the guests and lately it's one of the most impressive dishes.

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Ingredients

Metric US

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Duck breast

1 kg

about 4 duck breasts (boneless halves)

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Salt

2 tsp

preferably coarse salt

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Chinese five spice powder

2 tsp

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Water

500 ml

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Ginger

40 g

cut into thin slices

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Star anise

4 pieces

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Oranges

2 pieces

the juice

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Rice vinegar

400 ml

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Honey

100 g

+ 1 more teaspoon

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Sugar

5 tbsp

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Sesame oil

1 tsp

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Hoisin sauce

1 tsp

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Cucumber

4 pieces

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Green onions

4 pieces

only the green part

Step by step

We prepare the marinade:

- In a saucepan, combine water with juice from the 2 oranges, vinegar, star anise and ginger slices.

- Add honey and sugar, mix well.

- Place the pan over heat and let boil for 10 minutes to infuse properly.

The duck breasts are cleaned and washed well. Prick the skin all over with a toothpick.

Sink the meat in the hot marinade and leave there for 3-5 minutes.

Because the skin has these small holes now, it will release some fat in the marinade, so it should.

Then remove and drain.

With a thin and very sharp knife, make some diamond-patterned slits on the skin. Be very careful not to cut the meat!

Season with salt on both sides.

Then sprinkle with Chinese 5 spice powder on the meat side, not on the skin.

Arrange the duck breasts on a kitchen grill and refrigerate for 10 to 12 hours.

After 10 hours, arrange the duck breasts, skin side down, in a cold pan, for the skin to release as much fat as possible.

Place over heat and brown on both sides.

While the meat is cooking, heat the oven to 200 C.

Move the browned breast pieces from the pan into an oven sheet.

Mix 1 teaspoon of honey + 1 teaspoon of sesame oil + 1 teaspoon of Hoisin sauce and brush the diamond-patterned side with this mixture.

Place in the hot oven for 10 minutes.

After this time, let the duck cool for 10-15 minutes.

Then slice into thin pieces and arrange nicely on a plate.

Because the Peking duck is served with Chinese Pancakes, which are a kind of specific flatbreads - you'll have to start making them 2-3 hours before frying the breasts. You have the recipe here!

When serving, each pancake is divided into 2 thinner ones and shared with the neighbors at the table :)