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Peking Duck

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Ingredients
  

  • 1 Duck

Coating sauce

  • 1 Tbsp honey/molasses/treacle/golden syrup
  • 2 Tbsp hot water
  • 1/2 tsp vinegar
  • 1 tsp corn flour

Pancake

  • 450 g plain flour
  • 1.5 cup hot water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Dipping sauce

  • 2 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
  • 1 Tbsp peanut butter
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp Chinese wine

Equipment for roast duck

  • A piece of string to hang duck with
  • A brush to coat duck with
  • An electric fan/refridgerator
  • A piece of clean cloth
  • Roasting pan

Instructions
 

Duck

  • Pluck out all visible feathers.
  • Bring to boil a big pot of water. Dip the duck in and remove after 30 seconds. Do this 4 times.
  • Hang the duck by its neck in a place with draught. I just use a fan to blow at the duck, until the skin of the duck is dry and 'plasticky'. It took me 2 hours.
  • Meanwhile, make the pancake (see below).
  • Brush the duck with the coating sauce. Do this 5 times, with a little time in between for the sauce to be absorbed.
  • Hang the duck to dry or put it uncovered in the fridge for another two hours.
  • Preheat the oven to 230C.
  • Put the duck in a roasting pan, breast side up and cook for 8 minutes.
  • Turn the duck over using a towel (never never a tong or fork!) and roast for 8 minutes.
  • Lower the heat to 180C, and roast breastside up for another 20 minutes.
  • Lower the heat to 120C, roast for another 10 minutes.
  • Turn the duck belly down/ Crank it up to 180C again for 10 minutes. Watch careful this time, as the duck will burn easily now.
  • Rest the duck for 20 minutes before carving.

Carving the duck

  • Cut the back of the duck first, skin it off horizontally. For the breast and legs, 15degrees (almost horizontal) into the duck.
  • Diners help themselves to making their own peking duck wrappers.

Pancake

  • Put the flour, salt in the blender, slowly add hot water.
  • Leave to cool, covered for an hour.
  • Divide dough into 40 equal pieces, the roll each to 5,mm (I used the tortilla press)
  • Brush sesame oil on the surface on one piece, and stack another piece over it. Do this oil and stack 2 more times, stack 4 pieces of pancakes altogether.
  • Roll out the stack. I used a tortilla press.
  • Peel the layers apart.
  • Pan fry with little or no sesame oil.
  • Place them all stacked up in a large piece of foil, and then steam for 30 minutes.