Name: Pressed Duck (窩燒鴨)
Yield: It serves 4 as a main course.
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon salt; 1 duck, about 4½ pounds; 1 whole star anise, broken into points; 2 slices peeled ginger; 1 small scallion, cut in two; 2 egg whites, lightly beaten; 8 cups boiling water; 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water and 2 teaspoons sesame oil; 1 cup strained duck stock (below); 1 tablespoon dry sherry; 6 to 8 whole lettuce leaves; 6 cups oil; ¼ to ½ cup finely chopped almonds; ½ cup water-chestnut flour, combined with ½ cup cornstarch; 2 to 3 teaspoons light soy sauce

Preparation info

It serves
4
as a main course.

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Key to Chinese Cooking

By Irene Kuo

Published 1977

About

One of the most popular dishes in Chinese restaurants here, this Cantonese specialty originated in the north and was brought south at the end of the Ming dynasty in the seventeenth century, when the Manchus took control and many people fled the north.

Simmered and boned, flattened, coated and steamed, then deep-fried, this crunchy duck may be served with a brown sauce and chopped almonds or a sweet and sour sauce with fruits. It does involve several different procedures, but each ma