International dishesFried DishesChina3 hours drying in the sun, about 30 minutes of frying, not counting preparation
This Peking duck comes out with deep chestnut brown skin that shatters at the first bite while the meat underneath stays sweet. The liquid that collects inside the cavity is the best part of the dish and becomes the dipping sauce. The difficult step is drying the skin, because oil poured over damp skin will never crisp.
Pour boiling water over the skin only briefly to tighten it, since skin that cooks through will not hold the coating. All the seasoning goes into the cavity, which is then sewn shut with bamboo skewers and thread. The skin is inflated before the coating goes on.
This batch weighs about 3.5kg, at roughly 136 calories per 100g.
Method
Mix 3 tablespoons white rice wine, 50g crushed ginger, 2 tablespoons salt and 150ml cold water, then rub it over the inside and outside of the 2.5 to 3kg duck to clean it. Rinse well, cut off the feet and hang the duck to drain.
Heat 1 tablespoon cooking oil in a pan and fry 15g minced garlic and 15g minced shallot over low heat until fragrant, then turn off the heat and set aside.
Combine 2 teaspoons salt, 3 teaspoons MSG, 2 tablespoons seasoning powder, 2.5 tablespoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 teaspoon ground pepper and 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder, then stir in the fried garlic and shallot.
Pack all of the seasoning into the cavity and spread it around, tuck in 2 stalks of spring onion, then sew the cavity shut with bamboo skewers and thread.
Loop a loose string around the neck, slide an air pump under the neck skin and inflate until the skin is evenly taut, then pull the string tight to hold the air in.
Dissolve 1g shrimp red food coloring in 10g cold water. Combine 100g red vinegar, 200g white vinegar, 50g lime juice, 100g water and 25g malt syrup, stirring until the malt syrup dissolves. Add 50g white rice wine, stir, then mix in 3 teaspoons of the coloring.
Hang the duck on a spit, pour boiling water over it to tighten the skin, brush the malt syrup mixture evenly all over and hang it in the sun for 3 hours.
Fry the plain steamed buns in oil at 130 degrees C until evenly golden, then lift them out.
Lower the duck into oil at 120 degrees C and ladle the oil over it continuously for 20 minutes. Lift the duck out and keep basting until the skin turns deep chestnut brown. Hang it to drain and cool slightly.
Cut the thread, pour the liquid from the cavity into a bowl and chop the duck into bite sized pieces. Serve with the fried buns and use the liquid from the cavity as the dipping sauce.
Tips
On a day without sun, dry the duck in the oven at 80 degrees C for 1.5 hours instead of hanging it for 3 hours.
Stirring the malt syrup over a water bath makes it dissolve faster.
Pour the boiling water over the skin only briefly, since skin that cooks through will not hold the color.
Red vinegar and malt syrup are sold in Chinese grocery shops, and the shrimp red coloring can be left out if you would rather skip food coloring.
The malt syrup brushed onto the skin is still sugar, so keep the layer thin.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.