Chinese Peking Duck Recipe

Today, one of the most popular Chinese dishes is Peking Duck. It is a dish with a long history of being a delicacy served at royal feasts and the best Chinese chefs trained rigorously to be able to present it properly. In modern times, recipes have been updated, but Peking Duck can still be a feast fit for royalty. There are a lot of variations of the classic dish, without further ado, here is my favorite.

• 4lb duck
• 2 pints of water
• 3 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 3 tablespoon honey
• 4 fl oz rice wine
• 1 lemon
• 12 Chinese pancakes
• 6 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 16-24 spring onions

Rinse and dry the duck thoroughly, blotting with kitchen paper.

Mix the water, soy sauce, honey and rice wine. Cut the lemon into thick slices and simmer in the mixture for about 20 minutes.

Ladle the mixture over the duck until the skin is thoroughly coated, then hang the duck in a cool ventilated area to dry (use a roasting tin to catch the drips). This could take around 6 hours until the skin feels like paper.

Roast the duck breast side up on a rack in a preheated oven at 350F, 180C, Gas Mark 4. HAve a roasting tin in the bottom of the oven with 2 inches of water.

Roast for 30 minutes, turn the duck and roast for 30 minutes more, then turn again and 10 more minutes.

Cut off the crispy skin and serve with the pancakes, hoisin sauce and spring onions. Enjoy!

[The original recipe involves having air piped between the skin and flesh of the duck while cooking in a wood fired oven. If you don't want to go to the trouble of this, my recipe is a much more convenient alternative]