Various sources indicate different epochs of the emergence of the most famous Chinese dish - Peking duck, the recipe for its preparation provides for a special breed of these waterfowl, whose representatives can gain 5-6 kilograms. Usually, individuals that have reached a weight of 2-3 kg are used, since in this state they have the most tender meat.
Unfortunately, we don’t have such ducks, and therefore, under any circumstances, we won’t be able to achieve 100% compliance with the taste of the signature dish that they make in Beijing. It is comforting that in China itself, when a Peking duck is being prepared, the recipe is often not followed.
It makes no sense to describe a traditional recipe, because it is unlikely that anyone at home has a complete set of equipment to accurately follow it. In this context, we are interested in the question of how to cook a Peking duck at home. A recipe adapted to Russian cuisine, of course, will not result in complete identity with the famous taste, but, in the end, every housewife even has a taste for simple cutlets. And still, cutlets remain cutlets.
We choose a standard size duck - 2-3 kg, most likely it will be frozen. Defrosting is required slowly, first in the refrigerator and only then at room temperature. Let this process last at least a day, the rush at this stage is completely unnecessary. While our future Peking duck is defrosting, the recipe calls for the purchase of all the ingredients that we will soon need. And there will be a lot of them.
We will need: honey, not candied; soy sauce, which is darker and denser; bow; lemon; ground ginger; Sesame oil; and a bottle of sherry.
Since we bought the duck in the store, we don’t need to gut it, because in this sense it is already ready. It will be necessary to trim the sharp tips of the wings. We take an average pan, pour a liter and a half of water and put on fire. Add to the water two onions, cut in half, large slices of lemon, two or three tablespoons of honey, ginger, a glass of sherry and 50 grams of soy sauce. Boil the mixture for 20 minutes.
Now back to our duck, it would be nice to have a hook, for which it can be hung so as not to scald. We hold the duck by the hook over some cup and scald it with the prepared mixture. A tasty dish is never quick, especially if it's Chinese. Now the duck should be sent to the refrigerator, it is best if it maintains its vertical position there, you can hang it somehow inside the refrigerator by a hook, or you can put it on the bottle, but not with the remains of sherry, which can already be used for its intended purpose. . Do not forget to place a dish under the duck where the blood will drain.
After 10 hours, remove the duck from the refrigerator, grease it with a mixture of honey, sesame oil and soy sauce and send it back to the refrigerator for an hour. So the time has come for frying, not even a day has passed. The extremities of the duck are wrapped in foil so as not to burn. We put it on the wire rack in the oven, under the wire rack it is imperative to place a baking sheet with water. Frying starts at T = 250C, then gradually reduce to T = 180C for one and a half hours. So our Peking duck is ready, the restaurant may not be crazy about her, but, as they say, the exercises were held in conditions equivalent to military ones.
But that’s not all, you need to bake fresh cakes. They are made as follows: boil the flour with boiling water, cool knead, roll a tourniquet 4 cm thick and cut into equal pieces. A ball is formed from each piece, dipped in sesame oil, combined with another ball and both are rolled into a thin cake. It turns out to be two-layer. Cakes without oil are fried in a well-heated pan, it is better if it is with a non-stick coating.
As a seasoning, I would advise you to limit yourself to Haysin soy sauce without any additives.
When the Peking duck is ready, the recipe suggests cutting it into small, thin pieces, with the skin being cut separately. Now we take the cake, divide it in two, put on it a few pieces of duck and green onions, after dipping everything in the sauce. We turn the cake and ... Bon appetit!