Peking duck at home

Peking duck is one of the most popular dishes in Chinese cuisine. If we talk about the classics, then according to all the rules, Peking duck should be cooked in the oven, and the breed of duck should be Peking, it is not so fatty. But ovens are now a rarity and you don’t have to choose a breed of duck. Don't despair, we have selected six recipes for you with which you can cook Peking duck at home.

Classic Peking duck recipe at home

This dish is considered one of the most popular in Beijing. However, if you do not have the opportunity to go to China for it, then you can cook Peking duck yourself, in a simpler way, especially since it will take you less time than if you cooked according to a traditional Chinese recipe.

1. 
   How to cook juicy Peking duck at home? The bird must be completely defrosted, gutted and thoroughly washed, dried, and fat trimmed from the neck and tail.
2. 
   For the marinade, pour water into a saucepan, add chopped ginger, spices, honey, add soy sauce and rice vinegar, bring the liquid to a boil and cook for 3-5 minutes.
3. 
   Then scald the duck carcass on all sides with the resulting marinade. After this manipulation, the bird’s skin will tighten a little and darken.
4. 
   Fill a glass bottle with water, place a duck on it and put it in the refrigerator for a day. As an exception, a horizontal position of the carcass is also acceptable; the only condition is that there must be air around the entire surface of the bird.
5. 
   Before you start cooking, remove the duck from the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for an hour. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Rub the duck with salt and place it on the grill, breast side up, put it in the oven, place a tray or deep baking tray under the grill, the juice from the bird will drain there. Bake until the skin is golden brown and the juice when pierced is clear, usually this takes 1.5-2 hours. Turn off the oven, leave the duck in it for half an hour, and then serve with sweet and sour sauce or hoisin sauce.

Bon appetit!

How to bake Peking duck with apples in the oven?

For the first time, a recipe for Peking duck was published in a book on healthy food by the personal nutritionist of the Emperor of China, and for a long time it was considered a delicacy.A lot of time has passed since then and now you can find a large number of variations of recipes for the famous duck for cooking at home, here is one of them, Peking duck with apples.

Ingredients:

• Duck carcass – 1 pc.
• Apples – 4-5 pcs.
• Soy sauce – 80 ml.
• Rice vinegar – 80 ml.
• Ginger root – 1 pc.
• Star anise – 2 pcs.
• Honey – 3 tbsp.
• Salt - to taste.
• Seasonings (Szechuan pepper, cloves, cinnamon, fennel) - to taste.
• Water – 2 l.

Cooking process:

1. First, you need to gut the duck carcass, wash and dry it well, cut off the fat from the neck and tail.

2. Make the marinade. Pour water into a saucepan, dissolve honey in it, pour in spices, star anise, chopped ginger, pour in rice vinegar and soy sauce, mix well, wait until the liquid boils, and cook for a few minutes. Pour the hot marinade over the duck from all sides.

3. Place the duck on the bottle and put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. An hour before cooking, remove the duck from the refrigerator. After an hour, rub the duck with salt on all sides.

4. Wash the apples, remove the stems and core, cut them into slices, sprinkle with cinnamon.

5. Stuff the duck with apples, fasten the belly with threads or a large skewer. To make the duck look neat, you can tie it with thread, pressing the wings and legs to the body.

6. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, place the duck breast side up on the grill, and place a tray underneath. Bake for 1.5-2 hours until fully cooked and golden brown. You can remove some of the apples from the finished duck and decorate the dish with them.

Bon appetit!

Delicious and simple recipe for Peking duck with oranges

Haven't you cooked something original for a long time? Pay attention to the Peking duck with oranges.This is a truly festive dish that will surprise your guests with its original taste.

Ingredients:

• Duck carcass – 1 pc.
• Oranges – 2-3 pcs.
• Lemon – 1 pc.
• Rice vinegar – 80 ml.
• Soy sauce – 3 tbsp.
• Ginger root – 1 pc.
• Star anise – 2 pcs.
• Honey – 3 tbsp.
• Salt - to taste.
• Seasonings (Szechuan pepper, cloves, cinnamon, fennel) - to taste.
• Rosemary - to taste.
• Thyme - to taste.
• Water – 2 l.

Cooking process:

1. The duck must be gutted, washed thoroughly, remove any remaining feathers and layers of fat, and wipe dry.

2. Pour water into a saucepan, add honey, spices, star anise, chopped ginger, rice vinegar, soy sauce and orange zest, stir, bring to a boil and cook for a few minutes. Use the resulting marinade to scald the duck on all sides.

3. Place the duck on a suitable-sized bottle of water and place it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Before cooking, remove the duck from the refrigerator and leave for an hour at room temperature.

4. Grate the zest of two oranges and one lemon, mix it with salt and pepper. Rub the duck inside and out with this mixture.

5. Place the duck in a baking dish and place it in an oven preheated to 220 degrees for 20 minutes. At this time, mix soy sauce, a tablespoon of honey and the juice of one orange. We take the duck out of the oven, put orange slices, thyme leaves and rosemary sprigs into the mold, pour some of the prepared sauce over the meat. Reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees and return the form with the duck there. Bake for another 1-1.5 hours, periodically brushing the surface of the duck with the remaining sauce. At the table, the duck can be served with oranges that have been baked in the oven; for a side dish, prepare a light vegetable salad.

Bon appetit!

Step-by-step recipe for cooking duck with hoisin sauce

The right sauce can make your dishes even more delicious. Traditionally, Peking duck is served with hoisin sauce, which is made from fermented beans.

Ingredients:

• Duck carcass – 1 pc.
• Honey – 3 tbsp.
• Sesame oil – 1-2 tbsp.
• Rice vinegar – 80 ml.
• Soy sauce – 4 tbsp.
• Ginger – 2 tbsp.
• Black pepper - to taste.
• Salt - to taste.

For the sauce:

• Soy sauce – 80 ml.
• Vinegar – 40 ml.
• Black bean sauce – 80 ml.
• Liquid honey – 50 ml.
• Sesame oil – 20 ml.
• Chili sauce – 10 ml.
• Chinese Five Spice Seasoning – to taste.
• Garlic – 2 cloves.

Cooking process:

1. Gut the duck, remove the feathers, the skin of the duck should be clean, wash thoroughly and trim off the fatty layers.

2. Boil enough water to scald the entire carcass, then leave it for 5 minutes until the water drains, then wipe the duck dry. We rub the entire surface of the carcass with sherry, wait until it dries and then rub the duck with salt inside and out. Place the duck on the bottle and place it in a deep container where the liquid will collect. Place the duck in the refrigerator for 24 hours, draining the liquid periodically. After 12 hours, brush the duck with honey and put it back in the refrigerator.

3. Mix ginger, ground black pepper, a tablespoon of sesame oil and soy sauce. Rub this sauce into the inner surface of the duck and secure the belly with skewers or thread. Lubricate the outside of the duck skin with a mixture of soy sauce and sesame oil.

4. Wrap the wings and legs of the duck in foil. When the oven warms up to 220 degrees, place the duck on the grill and place a container under the bottom where the fat will drain.Bake the duck for 120 minutes, then brush it with a mixture of honey and soy sauce on all sides and put it back in the oven, bake for another 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

5. Prepare the sauce. Pour soy sauce, vinegar and black bean sauce into a bowl and stir. Add liquid honey, then add chili sauce, sesame oil, mix again. Chop the garlic and also place it in a bowl, and the last step is to sprinkle in the Chinese five-spice seasoning. Thoroughly whisk the sauce with a fork until it has a homogeneous consistency, transfer it to a glass container, it can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than a month.

6. Cut the finished Peking duck into portions and serve with prepared hoisin sauce.

Bon appetit!

Delicious Peking duck cooked in a slow cooker

At home, you can also cook Peking duck using a slow cooker. Cooks of any level can master this method, and the meat will turn out tender and juicy.

Ingredients:

• Duck carcass – 1 pc.
• Water – 200 ml.
• Sunflower oil – 3 tbsp.
• Garlic – 5 cloves.
• Black pepper - to taste.
• Parsley – 1 bunch.
• Bay leaf – 2 pcs.

Cooking process:

1. We clean the carcass from any remaining feathers, rinse it on all sides and inside, remove all fat, leave it for a while to drain off excess liquid. Then we cut the carcass into pieces.

2. Grind the seasonings together with salt in a mortar. Lubricate the duck meat with the mixture and put it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

3. Pour sunflower oil into the multicooker bowl, place the duck and fill it with water so that it is almost completely covered with liquid. Set the multicooker to “Stew” mode and set the timer for 2 hours.After the readiness signal, check the meat, it should darken and become soft.

4. If your multicooker allows for cooking on two levels, then you can steam the rice for a side dish along with the duck.

Bon appetit!

Classic recipe for cooking Peking duck up the sleeve

Cooking meat in a sleeve has a number of advantages. Firstly, it’s quite fast, secondly, the meat turns out juicy, and thirdly, you don’t need to waste time washing the oven and baking sheet.

Ingredients:

• Duck carcass – 1 pc.
• Honey – 1 tbsp.
• Soy sauce – 200 ml.
• Hoisin sauce – 2 tbsp. l.
• Ginger root – 1 pc.
• Salt - to taste.
• Seasonings (hua jie pepper, cloves, cinnamon, fennel, star anise) - to taste.
• Garlic – 3 cloves.
• Water – 2 l.

Cooking process:

1. Wash and dry the duck carcass well, cut off the fat from the neck and tail.

2. Grind the spices, grate the ginger on a fine grater, pass the garlic through a press - mix all this with two tablespoons of hoisin sauce and salt. We will lubricate the inside of the duck with this marinade and fill the belly with its remains. We fasten the hole in the carcass with a long wooden skewer.

3. Boil water, salt it, add half a tablespoon of cloves, a tablespoon of hua-ze, fennel and star anise, and pour in soy sauce. Scald the duck with this boiling mixture; this can be done directly over the pan. After which we leave the duck to marinate in a cool place for at least 12 hours.

4. Place the duck in the sleeve, tie the edges of the sleeve and place it on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and bake the carcass in it for 60-80 minutes.

5. Mix one tablespoon of soy sauce and liquid honey. Carefully cut the sleeve, brush the duck with the honey mixture and leave to bake for another 25-30 minutes.Serve the finished bird with fresh cucumbers, pancakes and hot sauce.

Bon appetit!

How to cook pancakes for Peking duck?

In Chinese cuisine, some dishes are served with thin pancakes, usually wrapped in meat, vegetables and topped with sauces. Therefore, pancakes should be elastic, light with a bland taste. We invite you to master the recipe for pancakes that can be served with Peking duck.

Ingredients:

• Wheat flour – 150 gr.
• Water – 125 ml.
• Sesame oil – 1-2 tbsp.

Cooking process:

1. Pour water into a saucepan and bring to a boil; it should be very hot when kneading the dough.

2. Sift the flour through a sieve, it should be saturated with air. Pour in hot water and one tablespoon of sesame oil, stir the ingredients in a bowl with quick movements. As soon as all the liquid is absorbed, pour a little flour onto a flat surface and knead the dough with your hands, leave it under a towel for half an hour.

3. Roll the dough into a “sausage”, cut it into 10-12 equal pieces and form them into balls. Place each ball on a floured table and roll out a thin pancake, grease its surface with a small amount of sesame oil - if you stack the pancakes, this will prevent them from sticking together.

4. In a preheated dry frying pan, fry the pancakes on both sides. It is important not to overheat them so that they do not become tough.

Bon appetit!

How to properly serve and eat Peking duck?

If you have already started preparing such a delicious dish as Peking duck, then you need to bring this matter to the end. It’s not enough to cook it correctly, but to serve Peking duck to the table, there are some recommendations that you can follow.

The first thing you need to know is that the finished duck must be cut. According to Chinese tradition, the bird is cut into 100 pieces; professional chefs learn this additionally. The bones that remain after cutting are fried in batter and then soup is made from them.

So, we place the duck carcass breast side down, make cuts above the bones of the thighs and then cut off the entire back part of the duck in a circle. We also cut off the wings, separate the breast from the bones, remove the front part from the thighs and cut the meat into pieces, we try to do this so that there is skin on each piece. We do this as quickly as possible so that the duck does not cool down too much.

To recreate the atmosphere of the East as much as possible, you can use special dishes for setting the table, and stock up on chopsticks instead of ordinary cutlery.

Peking duck is served with chopped vegetables (fresh cucumbers, pickled onions, ginger), sauces (hoisin, bean, mustard, blueberry jam sauce) and special thin pancakes.

Dip a piece of duck into the sauce, place it on a pancake, add vegetables to taste, wrap it and eat with pleasure. And one more small but important detail: you need to wrap the pancake away from yourself; according to Chinese tradition, this will attract good luck, prosperity and wealth to you.

Bon appetit!