Happy National Peking Duck Day! Hope you all had a nice holiday weekend. Just got back from a long hike with my girls. While in the woods, I was thinking about this dish and ways I could make it better. I was very excited going into this dish. You take a whole duck and prepare it the night before you roast it. The outcome should be super-crispy skin and delicious meat. It’s a fairly straight-forward meal, but it takes a lot of work. I’m not one to shy away from a laborious meal, but frankly, this was too much work for too little payoff.
The marinade smelled magnificent, but it didn’t really penetrate the meat. The skin wasn’t as crispy as I liked, probably because the ducks you buy now are super fatty. There’s not a ton of meat from the duck you can use, either. So, I’m going to alter this recipe slightly which will make it easier, get the skin crispier, make the meat tastier and provide you a lot more useful end-product.
I did take an easy way out by not making my own “chinese pancakes” and used flour tortillas as the original recipe said would work. Yes, they work, but at a sacrifice. Go ahead and make your own (see original recipe in link below)...or, if you live in the area, and don’t feel like doing anything, head to the famous Peking Gourmet Inn, where for roughly the same price as you’d pay for a duck and all of the ingredients, you can have an authentically, perfectly-cooked Peking Duck! It’s not often I suggest a restaurant over one of my recipes, so trust me on this one. You won’t be disappointed!
Peking-style Duck Breasts
Peking Duck with Honey and Five-Spice Glaze, adapted from NY Times Cooking, Kay Chun,
Marinade
3 tbsp orange blossom honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
2 duck breasts
Dish preparation
4 scallions, sliced on the bias, about 3 inches long
1 persian cucumber sliced into thin matchsticks, about 3 inches long
½ cup hoisin sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Chinese pancakes (see recipe link above) or lightly toasted flour tortillas
In a small pot, heat the marinade ingredients (excluding the duck breasts) over low heat, whisking often, until the sugar dissolves. Meanwhile, score the duck breast skin in a criss-cross pattern and place in a ziploc bag.
When the marinade is ready and slightly cooled, pour over the duck breasts. Close the ziplock bag and rub the marinade all into the meat and skin. Place in the fridge to marinade overnight.
When ready to cook, heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium heat until the oil is rippling. Season the duck with kosher salt and black pepper and place them skin-side down in the skillet and cook them until the skin is golden brown and crispy, about 13-15 minutes. Then flip and cook for another 4 minutes, or until the meat reaches 135 degrees. Set the cooked duck on a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice thin and serve with the prepared accompaniments.
While the duck cooks, slice your vegetables and whisk together the hoisin sauce and sesame oil. If there are any pan drippings, whisk them into the sauce before serving.
_____________________________________________ Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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