A holiday dinner should be special. So let's not make the same thing over and over and go a little more interesting... homemade Peking duck with all the fixings.
INGREDIENTS:
Duck:
1 duck
Chinese Mandarin Pancakes:
2 cups (300g) all purpose flour
1 cup (237ml) water
1 tablespoon (11g) sesame oil
Honey Plum Sauce:
1 lb (16oz) fresh plums, pitted & chopped w/ skin
1/4 cup (59ml) rice vinegar
1/4 cup (58g) sugar
2 tablespoons (38g) honey
2 tablespoons (30ml) shaoxing wine
1/4 cup (52g) sriracha
2 tablespoons (26g) dark soy sauce
Five Spice Sichuan Seasoning:
4 tablespoons (72g) kosher salt
2.5 tablespoons (31g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon (5g) Chinese five spice
1.5 teaspoons (6g) Sichuan peppercorn powder
Maltose Glaze:
3 tablespoons (45ml) shaoxing wine
1/4 cup (86g) maltose
2 tablespoons (24g) Chinese red vinegar
1 tablespoon (12g) Chinese black vinegar
2 cups (473ml) water
To Serve:
1/2 cucumber, very finely julienned
1 bunch of green onions, ultra fine julienne
INSTRUCTIONS:
Duck:
Preheat the oven at 250F. Separate as much skin from the meat as possible. Wiggle your fingers in there until it is mostly separated. With a bike pump bike, start pumping air under the skin starting at the base nearest to the legs underneath the breast until inflates.
Season the duck with your Five Spice Sichuan Seasoning, underneath the skin, (not on the skin) and in the cavity.
Get a large pot, filled uip with 5 quarts of water, bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, and then immediately ladle that hot water onto the skin of the duck on every part where the skin covers; repeat the process until you use all the water.
Let the duck air dry on a wire rack for about ten minutes; then pour some of your glaze mixture all over the breast side of the duck and then again on the back side of the duck, coating all the skin.
Dry overnight in the fridge. Get a can, fill it up with water (so it is weighted), gently accommodate your duck on the can, making sure it is standing up, and place it on your oven- leave the door slightly ajar (allows air to flow). Roast for 1hour and 10 minutes.
Increase the oven temperature to 400F (convection if possible), and leave the door cracked and cook for 20 to 30 additional minutes, rotating halfway in between.
Chinese Mandarin Pancakes:
In a bowl mix hot water with flour, then knead until it’s nice and smooth for about five minutes. Cover with plastic and let it rest for 25 minutes.
Remove the plastic and divide it into evenly sized pieces; form those pieces into balls and roll them until you get a rough rectangle that is a quarter of an inch thick.
Using a three inch biscuit cutter, cut them into circles; repeat until you’ve used all of your dough. Brush lightly one pancake with sesame oil and stack another piece on top of the oiled side, press them lightly together and then roll that out until a six inch disc.
Preheat a cast iron pan over medium-high, place your pancake and let it cook for 20 seconds, flip it and again another 20 to 25 seconds; once that is done pull it off and while it is hot, separate the two at the seam to get two pancakes.
Repeat with the rest of your dough.
Honey Plum Sauce:
Chop your plums, leaving the skin on, place them into a medium saucepan, add honey, rice vinegar, sugar, and wine; place it on the stove, set over medium-high, let it boil, cook for about seven minutes or until you get a syrup and the fruit is extremely soft.
Place your mixture into a blender and blend on high; add soy sauce and sriracha, continue to blend until smooth.
Five Spice Sichuan Seasoning:
Mix all ingredients.
Maltose Glaze:
In a small sauce pan combine water, vinegars, shaoxing wine and maltose; bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, and let it reduce for five minutes.
To Serve:
Remove all the skin, before resting the duck and place the crisp skin on a paper towel to drain; let your duck rest for 10 minutes.
Slice the breast and thigh evenly, about a quarter inch thick (you can cut up of the legs or leave them whole).
Cut your duck skin around the same width of your breast and thighs and layer the skin on top of all of the meat. Place that on a serving tray laying out nice and neat.
Serve with the plum sauce, green onions and carrots.
Grab a pancake, fill it with meat, skin, cucumber carrot, green onion, a nice dollop of your plum sauce and enjoy.
