What is the proper way to prepare peking duck?

Question

I tried it one time and I really enjoyed. I'd like to know how to make it on my own. If you have a tips or tricks when working with something like duck please tell me. Thanks :)

Answer 1

INGREDIENTS:
One 5 to 6 pound duck
8 cups water
1 slice ginger
1 scallion, cut into halves
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon sherry
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
Scallions for garnish
PREPARATION:
Clean duck. Wipe dry and tie string around neck.
Hang duck in cool, windy place 4 hours.
Fill large wok with water. Bring to boil. Add ginger, scallion, honey, vinegar, and sherry. Bring to boil.


Pour in dissolved cornstarch. Stir constantly.
Place duck in large strainer above larger bowl. Scoop boiling mixture all over duck for about 10 minutes.
Hang duck again in cool, windy place for 6 hours until thoroughly dry.
Place duck breast side up on a greased rack in oven preheated to 350 degrees. Set a pan filled with 2 inches of water in bottom of oven.
(This is for drippings). Roast 30 minutes.
Turn duck and roast 30 minutes more. Turn breast side up again. Roast 10 minutes more.
Use sharp knife to cut off crispy skin. Serve meat and skin immediately on a prewarmed dish.
The duck is eaten hot with hoisin sauce rolled in Mandarin Crepes. Garnish with scallion flowerets. Serves 4 to 6.

Answer 2

I always check for recipes at the link below because they have an extensive library that includes a diverse ethnic background.

If you want a good detailed recipe, check out Ken Hom's
Chinese Technique (Simon & Schuster, 1981).

1. Loosen the skin from the duck by massaging it,
pulling the skin away where possible.

2. Blanch the duck for a couple of minutes.

3. Hang it up to dry for 4 hours, then baste it with
sherry or with honey-water 1/2 and 1/2 mixture. Hang
it up again to dry for 4 hours.

4. Roast duck - one recipe says the other
says
30 min. at 375 15 min at
450
1 hour at 250 55 min at
350
30 min at 400 20 min at
450

The rationale for this I'm not sure of, but all
recipes claim that changing the oven temperature makes
a vast difference.

5. To serve - slice off skin and cut it into 1"x2"
pieces. Cut meat into similar-sized pieces. Provide 2"
scallion lengths (green and white part), hoisin sauce
(canned or bottled), pancakes (below). Each diner
rolls a bit of meat, a bit of skin, and a scallion
length into a pancake that has been spread with about
a teaspoon of hoisin sauce and eats the mess with
fingers.

Pancakes (adapted from Grace Zia Chu, Pleasures of
Chinese Cooking):

2 c flour, 1 c boiling water, 2 T dark sesame oil

Add water to flour in a bowl and work with a wooden
spoon into a dough. Knead 10 min. and let rest for 10
min.

Form into a long roll about 2" in diameter. Cut into
1/2" pieces and flatten to 1/4". Brush a little oil
over a piece of dough and lay another piece over it.
Roll out with rolling pin, slowly and from the center
out, until the piece is 4" or more in diameter.
Proceed until all dough is rolled out.

Heat ungreased griddle over low flame and add dough
circle. When it bubbles slightly, turn it over and
heat the other side. While it is still warm, pull
apart the two halves and fold at the center with the
greased side inside. Repeat with remaining dough
circles.

Steam for 10 min. before using as above.

Answer 3

My guaranteed way is to go to a restaurant. Seriously :

There's a whole ritual involved in eating Peking-style duck. Each guest slices morsels of crisp skin and succulent meat, then prepares a kind of sandwich in a flour tortilla with Chinese hoisin sauce (available in Oriental markets), coriander, and green onion. 1 tsp. each ground ginger and cinnamon 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp. each ground cloves and pepper 1/4 c. soy sauce About 1 c. canned hoisin sauce 1 to 1 1/2 dozen flour tortillas About 1 1/2 c. slivered green onion, including some tops 1/2 to 1 c. coarsely chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
Remove giblets and reserve for other uses. With fork, pierce duck skin well. Trim off excess neck skin; fasten remaining skin to back with skewer.

Blend ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and pepper. Dust about 1/2 teaspoon of the spice mixture inside each duck, then rub remaining mixture evenly over exterior of birds. Leave body cavity open for more even cooking.

Bank about 20 glowing coals on each side of fire bed and place a deep metal drip pan in center. Arrange birds, breast-side up, on a well- greased grill 4-6 inches above drip pan. Cover barbecue, leaving dampers open to maintain a hot fire. Add 5 or 6 briquettes to each side of fire every 1/2 hour to maintain a constant temperature.

Combine soy and 2 tablespoons of the hoisin sauce. Cook ducks for about 2 to 2 1/4 hours or until thigh meat is soft when squeezed (protect hands with paper towels). During last 20 minutes of cooking, brush ducks frequently with soy mixture.

Meanwhile, lightly dampen tortillas. Cut in halves or quarters, stack, and wrap in foil. Heat in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until steamy. Place in a napkin-lined basket to keep warm. Put remaining hoisin sauce, green onion, and coriander in separate serving bowls.

To eat, spread tortilla pieces with hoisin; slice small pieces of duck skin and meat (trimming out fat) and put on tortilla. Top with a few green onion slivers and some coriander, and fold to eat out of hand. Makes 6-8 servings.

Answer 4

Quantity: 4-6 Portions

This has always been one of my favourite dishes. In Australia when you order it the waiter will bring a whole duck on a trolley and slices off crispy skin to be eaten with the pancakes, cucumber and spring onion. The rest of the meat is prepared in your choice of dishes. While in Britain you get aromatic crispy duck with pancakes where you shred the meat and skin together and eat it with the pancakes (this dish is more a confit of duck than Peking Duck) and is actually Sichuan Crispy Duck, which is steamed and then deep fried and is accompanied by lettuce and spring onions rather than pancakes.

Peking Duck was created in 1855 in the Pen Yee Restaurant and was for the wealthy, with chefs needing to train for 3 months on the preparation of this dish. Preparing Peking Duck at home is time consuming but worth while. For the best results you need to inflate the duck, by blowing up the skin through a the neck end (if you don't feel up to it or you may try using a bicycle pump) but this step isn't necessary . Next boiling water with honey, wine, vinegar and ginger is poured over the duck to glaze it. The duck is then hung for 8-11 hours in a well ventilated place (this can be reduced by more than half by using a fan to dry the skin). Then traditionally the duck is cooked in clay oven with charcoal or coal, obviously this step is done in the oven in this recipe.
Ingredients
Peking Duck
2 kg duck
4 litres water
6 tbsp honey
5 cm knob of ginger
4 tbsp soy sauce
125ml rice wine vinegar
You will need
string or meat hooks
bicycle pump (optional)
fan (optional)
To Serve
24-30 Mandarin Pancakes (purchase from Chinese Food shops from the freezer)
24-30 3-4cm spring onion pieces
24-30 3cm-4cm*1cm cucumber batons
Hoisin or Plum Sauce
Stir Fried Duck
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp ground nut or corn oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tsp. ginger, finely chopped
30g canned bamboo slices, shredded
1 large carrot, peeled and julienne (thin batons .3mm thick and 3 cm long)
50g beansprouts
2 spring onions, finely chopped
3 tbsp soy sauce
Method
Inflating Duck Skin: Remove the extra fat from the duck and dry the cavity. Place the nozzle of a bicycle pump in the neck end between the skin and meat and inflate the skin or blow with your mouth (optional step).
Glaze: Place the water, honey, ginger, wine and vinegar in a wok or large saucepan, bring the water to the boil. Holding the duck by the string dip the whole body of the duck in the water and ladle the water over it for 20 seconds.
To Hang: Hang the duck by its neck with meat hooks in front of a fan for 2-3 hours or for 8 hours in a dry well ventilated place to dry the skin.
To Cook: Preheat an oven to 200°C. Place the star anise, spring onion and bruised garlic clove in the duck cavity. Place the duck breast side up on a rack in an oven tray, pour a little water in the base of the tray and place it in the middle shelf in the oven for 20 minutes then turn the breast side down, reduce the temperature to 180°C and cook for a further 30 minutes. Turn the duck breast side up for the final cooking for 20 minutes, if the skin is already very red reduce the temperature to 150°C or if it is very pal increase the temperature to 200°C.
To Serve: Steam the pancakes in bamboo steaming baskets or in a steamer. Serve them on plates or directly from the baskets. Slice off 4cm squares of the skin with a little meat (5mm). Lay them out on a serving dish with the spring onions and cucumber batons and hoisin sauce. To assemble the pancakes together each guest should spread a little hoisin sauce over the pancake, then place a piece of duck skin on the pancake and piece of spring onion and cucumber, then roll them.
Stir Fried Duck: Slice the meat from the duck into even pieces. Place the sesame oil and groundnut oil in a wok over a high heat and add the garlic and ginger, cook it for 30 seconds then add the meat with the remaining ingredients and cook for 2 minutes until hot. Serve with steamed rice alongside or after the duck pancakes.

Answer 5

Let it know with tact and grace that it's about to meet it's maker- then tell it it's life will be used to sustain us, and thank it. Then when it's prepared, lob off it's head unexpectedly

Answer 6

try either epicurious.com or foodtv.com They often have awesome recipies that can help you out.

Answer 7

Carefully!
LOL (sorry!)