Name: Yunnan Kao Ya (Yunnan Roast Duck)
Yield: Serves 6 to 8 as Part of a Chinese Meal, or 2 to 4 as a Single Dish.
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 850 ml/1½ pt water; 2 tablespoons salt mixed with 2 teaspoons Freshly ground black pepper; 6 spring onions, cut into 5-cm/2-in pieces; 5 tablespoons hoisin sauce mixed with 2 tablespoons chilli bean sauce; 1.6-1.8 kg/3½-4 lb whole duck, fresh or frozen; Salt and freshly ground black pepper; 3 tablespoons honey; 3 tablespoons dark soy sauce; 2 tablespoons white rice vinegar

Preparation info

Serves
6 to 8
as Part of a Chinese Meal, or 2 to 4 as a Single Dish.

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Taste of China

By Ken Hom

Published 1990

About

Every region of China has its duck speciality, and Yunnan is no exception. In the Yunnan countryside, roadside restaurants display ducks, cooked and uncooked, hanging from poles outside. Brick and clay ovens are kept going day and night, cooking even more ducks. The Yunnan method of preparation follows the typical Chinese technique: the ducks are basted and hung out for hours to dry in the breeze, a necessary step before roasting to produce crispy skin and moist meat. What makes eating d