Peking Duck at Home | Everyday Gourmet S6 EP54

As seen on Everyday Gourmet.

When I went to Beijing for the first time I probably ate at least six different varieties of Peking duck I love it it’s that crispy skin and that really delicious five-spice flavor that goes with it you know what yes we do have it at restaurants quite a lot but

I’m going to show you a cheats way and show you how to make it at home it’s not the traditional way of doing it but the results are fantastic the first thing is when you get your whole duck home it will be in a packet just like this you

Want to remove it from the packet place it on a tray just like I’ve done here and allow it to air dry in the fridge for at least two days you can see how it’s dried up the drier the skin is the crispier the skin is then bring it out

Of the fridge and bring it to room temperature because it’s going to cook much faster and much more evenly now I’m going to season it with some salt so just salt no oil required because the duck has a thick skin here so you’ll see the skin start to render the fat down

Now we can put it in the oven and this is the general rule 190 degree so preheat the oven and this is going to go into the oven for 80 minutes or 40 minutes per kilo depending on what size your duckies now while the Ducks cooking we can get

Onto the lacquer this is the five-spice lacquer that’s going to make it resemble the Peking duck into a pot let’s bring this closer to me I’m going to add a quarter of a cup of water along with some maple syrup now that’s not traditional at all but this is the way

That I like to do it because it’s going to give it a really nice molasses flavor and three tablespoons of shaoxing wine if you can’t find Shaoxing wine you could use a little bit of sherry if you like and a lot of five-spice this is Chinese five-spice that has a

Combination of cinnamon clove and nice white pepper in it okay now the heats going to go on I’m just going to add one more ingredient 3 tablespoons of soy sauce so lots of interesting flavors in here and now I’m going to allow this to bubble away 5 to 10 minutes or it may

Take a little bit longer I will show you the consistency of this we want this to be a sticky syrup or a lacquer look at the crispy skin on this duck and that’s because we’ve allowed it to air dry now this is where I start to add

This sticky sauce see how thick that is that’s because I’ve reduced it for a long time long time meaning ten minutes and this is what happens and now I’m going to start basting this duck and look how glossy it is and this duck hasn’t rested yet so you do want to

Allow the duck to rest for at least 20 minutes and by allowing it to rest just in the open air like this it will start to become even more crispy and glossy and if you like in that 20 minutes you can baste it one more time so now this

Is fantastic on the table as is a big bowl of rice maybe some steamed greens or I couldn’t help myself I have to serve it as duck pancakes I love them in a steamer over here I have some pancakes and they’re nearly done and then I’m just going to prepare some spring onions

Take the green part off and I’ll cut them into four even batter there and then a little bit of cucumber I’m going to cut the cucumber it take the seeds out because they’re too watery and I’m just thinking of when I would serve this there’s always a good

Time to serve Peking Duck but it’s a really nice thing to do to get everyone involved in the theater of eating very little preparation in the accompaniments and you will be sure to impress anyone you serve this to all right that’s ready to go hoisin sauce a must to go with this so

All we need to do now is just allow this to rest just let it sit here for 20 minutes so the meat stays nice and moist once you cut into it this duck is looking so good so sticky and that’s what you want with this and

Then it’s as simple as carving it now you can carve this at the table my favorite part is actually not the breast of this duck it’s this bit right here the duck leg and the duck thigh so much flavor and it’s quite easy to come off

It almost just falls apart cause it’s so tender all right I’m just going to shred some of the meat and see how thin and glossy that skin is there’s not too much fat at all that is what you’re looking for when it comes to crispy skin with

The duck you don’t want too much fat there so I’m just going to take most of this meat off the bone now these have been steaming away they’re perfectly soft and I’m just going to peel just one off see how thin they are perfect and I’m gonna start with a little bit of

Hoisin sauce so a sweet plum sauce just drizzle a little bit in the center perfect a bit of cucumber and some spring onions and I’m a purist when it comes to Peking duck pancakes that’s all I like on it it doesn’t need anything else it’s just the duck the

Hoisin some cucumbers and spring onion and the pancake and that’s all you need for pure bliss wrap it up however you like and then dig in you