Name: Peking Duck
Yield: Serves 8 as a three-course meal, more if part of a banquet.
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce; 2 whole ducks, about 5 to 5½ pounds each, head and neck intact; 4 tablespoons chopped scallion tops for garnish; 8 fresh water chestnuts, peeled and sliced; 2 tablespoons thin soy sauce; 8 cups chicken broth; 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine or dry sherry; 2 pounds celery cabbage (Napa cabbage); 1 tablespoon thin soy sauce; Salt and pepper to taste; Bones from cut-up Peking-roasted ducks; Dark meat from 2 Peking-roasted ducks, shredded; ¼ cup malt sugar or honey dissolved in 1 cup boiling water; 1 can hoisin sauce; 16 pancakes; 16 Scallion Brushes; 2 teaspoons sesame oil; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 2 cups bean sprouts, plucked at both ends; 3 tablespoons peanut oil

Preparation info

Serves
8
as a three-course meal .

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Chinese Technique

By Ken Hom

Published 1981

About

In China, the roasting of Peking Duck is so highly regarded that chefs specialize in it, and some restaurants serve only Peking Duck dinners. Ducks are bred and raised especially for this dish: they are force-fed much as the French force-feed geese for foie gras. The birds’ movements are restricted so that their flesh stays tender and juicy. The ducks are roasted in special ovens over a fire of dried jujube date, peach, and pear branches to give the skin and meat a unique fragrance.