Culinary Adventures: China Peking Duck

On the Menu Today~
Recipes Inspired From Around the World~

China~
Peking Duck with Plum Sauce~
Peking Roast Duck is China's National Food~
Serve Peking Duck with Baijiu~

Peking Roast Duck,
is a well-known duck dish in Beijing,
that has been considered one of the most delicious dishes all over the world.
This dish originated in the Yuan Dynasty and
now has become the cultural symbol of traditional Chinese food.
Most people visiting Beijing
will not miss out on the chance to try Peking Roast Duck.

When properly prepared,
the deeply flavored skin should crackle and crunch,
the meat should be moist, tender and flavorful.
Wrapped in ultra thin mandarin-style pancakes and
served with scallions, cucumber and a smear of hoisin or plum sauce,
is the traditional way to serve and enjoy Peking Duck.

Brief History:
The history of the roast duck can be traced back to as early as the Yuan Dynasty,
when it was listed among the Imperial dishes during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty.
Roast Duck was a favorite delicacy of the upper-classes.

Preparation and Cooking Steps:
The cooking procedure of Peking Roast Duck has several steps and
is rather complicated....
the reason people prefer to order Peking Duck when eating at a Chinese Restaurant.
In my research to learn more about Peking Duck and
in my quest to find a recipe for Peking Duck,
I found many different recipes, with many different steps.
Find a recipe your comfortable with and
follow the steps called for in that particular recipe.

 This is a great video with easy to follow directions and includes a fantastic recipe.

 The next time I prepare Peking Duck, and there will be a next time... 

because my hubby absolutely loved it, I'm going to follow the directions in

this video. I really like the ingredients used and the fact you combine the spices

with the hoisin sauce and then put the mixture inside the duck cavity...

Sounds so flavorful!

Chinese Five Spice Powder

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon ground fennel seed
• 1 tablespoon ground Szechuan peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon ground star anise
• If your aren't counting, you can also add these spices to the mix:
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon anise seed

Cooking Directions

1. Mix all spices together. Store in a large air tight container.

Plum Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 (30 oz) can purple plums in heavy syrup drained, pitted, reserving 1 cup plum juice
• 2/3 cup pomegranate/plum juice

Cooking Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, cornstarch, dry mustard and ground cloves. Stir in reserved plum liquid and pomegranate plum juice until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Add whole, pitted plums. Cook mixture until it comes back to a boil, boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. When mixture has cooled, using an immersion blender, blend mixture well. 
2. Store in the refrigerator, tightly covered, up to one week.

Serve with Peking Duck or as a
Dipping Sauce for Egg Rolls

Peking Duck~

Peking Duck

Ingredients

• 1 Peking duck
• boiling water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1 tablespoon five-spice powder
• 1 cup molasses
• 2 cups hot oil, optional

Cooking Directions

1. Carefully add whole duck to the large pot of boiling water.
2. Remove as soon as the skin changes color, 5 to 8 minutes.
3. Sprinkle the inside of the duck with sugar, salt and 5-spice powder.
4. Rub the skin of the duck with molasses.
5. Truss the duck with string and hang in an airing place for 2 hours or fill an empty can (pop or beer can) half way full with water. Set can in a 13 x 9 cake pan, or other baking pan with sides. Position duck on top of can, place pan and duck in the refrigerate overnight. Do not cover the duck. This method will dry out the skin of the duck and allow the skin to become crisp.
6. Drain any juices that accumulate in the pan.
7. Preheat oven to 350º
8. Remove duck and pan from refrigerator.
9. Drain any juices that have accumulated in the bottom of the pan, carefully remove can from the duck, discard can, place a clean can, half full of water, in a baking pan with sides, position duck on top of can, place pan and duck in oven.
10. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes and/or until the skin is dark reddish brown. Remove from oven. To increase crispiness, before serving, pour hot oil over duck.
11. Thinly slice the skin and meat from the duck.

Serve wrapped in mandarin-style pancakes with
Scallions, cucumber and plum sauce.

Chinese, Duck, Sauce, Roasted, Spice, Pancakes, Plum