For Chinese New Year, my sister and I cooked up a spread for our friends. The highlight dish is the recipe I’ll be sharing with you today – Peking duck.
The duck I bought for our dish is a free range Peking duck from the Neighbougood’s butcher at The Old Biscuit Mill. The duck was 2,3 kg and fresh as a daisy. Roasting the duck takes quite a bit of time, but after 2 hours and 20 minutes, there’s nothing to compare the joy of seeing such a gorgeous golden-brown glow on the skin.
Okay, prepare yourself. This recipe serves 10.
Peking Duck:
- 2 kg Pekin duck (ours was 2,3 kg)
- ½ cup of 5 spices seasoning
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 2 Tbsp maltose syrup
- 3 Tbsp hot water
Method: (For step by step pictures – visit original blog post here)
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
- Trim the excess skin and fat off the duck.
- Place the duck on a wire rack over a deep oven dish.
- Rub the salt and 5 spice seasoning all over the duck.
- Place duck in oven.
- After 40 minutes, take the duck out.
- Lift the wire rack and duck off the pan and place over a plate.
- Pour the oil from the oven pan into a bowl, then put the wire rack and duck back into the pan.
- Drizzle the oil over the duck, on both top and bottom.
- Before putting the duck back in the oven, make sure you flipped the duck so the bottom faces the top.
- After another 40 minutes, repeat the last 4 steps.
- After another 30 minutes, mix the hot water and maltose syrup in a small bowl (any syrup may be used, for a crispier effect, use maltose syrup).
- Take the duck out the oven and brush the syrup mix all over it.
- Before putting the duck back in the oven, make sure you flipped the duck so the bottom faces the top.
- After 20 minutes, take the duck out – it’s ready!
- Allow it to cool, then carve into small slices.
Pancake:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of boiling water
- 4 cups of cake/bread flour
- 1 cup of cold water
- 1Tbsp oil
- Pour halt the flour into a mixing bowl, then add the hot water slowing, while mixing it. Build up the ball of dough with more flour (if necessary) and cold water until it forms into malleable dough.
- Break the dough into pieces the size of an avocado pip.
- Flatten two balls slightly; dip one of them into the oil.
- Place it on top of each another.
- Flatten it and roll it out into a flat circle, dusting with flour if necessary.
- Repeat till all the dough has become flat pancakes.
- Heat a pan on the stove at a low temperature.
- Place a pancake on the pan for 2 minutes, then flip.
- Allow the pancake to lightly brown and bubble till cooked.
- Peel the two pancakes away from each other when cool.
Suggestions:
We eat Peking duck with salad spring onions, julienned cucumber and sweet sauce. In my family, we mix a little sugar with the sweet sauce just to give it that extra sweetness. Slice 2 cm along the grain on the green side of the spring onion, dividing the edge into four parts, soak in water, then they spring outwards.
You’ll need:
- 1 large English cucumber
- 15 salad spring onions
- ½ cup of sweet sauce
- 1 Tbsp white sugar (optional)
To eat:
Place the filling on a pancake, smear some of the sauce on and wrap it together.
This recipe was originally posted on my blog: Butterfingers
