Peking Duck
Lacquered, burnished skin that shatters, juicy meat, and the full ritual at home: pancakes, cucumber, green onions and sweet bean sauce, with an overnight air-dry doing the hard work.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Peking Duck, in 5 ideas
- The skin crisps because it dries. An uncovered night in the fridge matters more than any gadget or glaze.
- Scalding tightens the skin and starts the color. The maltose or honey wash paints it mahogany in the oven.
- Separating skin from fat with air is the restaurant trick. A bicycle pump is traditional, your fingers and patience work too.
- Rest the bird and carve at the table. Skin first, so every guest gets the crackle before it softens.
- The carcass makes a clean. Delicate soup for the next day, which is how the dish always ended in Beijing.
What you need
Ingredients
- 1 whole duck, about 5 lb
- 2 tbsp maltose or honey
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- 8 to 10 Mandarin pancakes
- 1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- 6 green onions, cut into brushes or shreds
- 1/2 cup sweet bean sauce or hoisin
How to make it
Method
Pat the duck dry. Rub inside and out with the salt and five-spice. Pour a kettle of boiling water slowly over the whole bird to tighten the skin.
Stir the maltose, wine and vinegar into 2 cups of hot water. Ladle it over the duck until evenly glazed and burnished.
Hang the duck or set it upright on a rack over a tray in the fridge, uncovered, overnight and up to 24 hours, until the skin feels dry and papery.
Heat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C). Set the duck breast up on a rack over a roasting pan and roast for 30 minutes.
Turn the oven down to 350 °F (175 °C) and roast about 1 hour more, until the skin is deep mahogany and crisp and the thigh juices run clear.
Rest 15 minutes. Carve the skin in pieces first, then slice the meat from the breast and legs.
Serve at once with warm pancakes, cucumber, green onions and sauce: a smear of sauce, duck, cucumber, onion, roll, eat.
Save every drop of duck fat from the pan: it is the best roast potato fat there is, and it keeps for weeks in the fridge.