Peking duck

What do you think is the most popular Chinese dish? Of course, Peking duck. The recipe for its preparation at home is quite difficult to pick up, because this bird is fried in a special oven using secret ingredients. But we still try.

The dish comes from the 14th century: a view of contemporaries

Argued that for the first time a traditional Chinese dish was cooked in the 14th century. He was very fond of the dynasty of the Yuan rulers. To try a real culinary masterpiece, prepared in compliance with all traditions, you need to go to China. In this region Peking duck is fried on an open fire and a special spit, using the branches of fruit trees.

At home, you can cook Peking's meat of this bird without using special ovens. The necessary savory taste and aroma of meat will give the original sauce. To understand how to cook Peking duck correctly, it is important to know some features:

• The secret ingredients for giving duck a specific flavor and taste are soy sauce, sesame seeds and oil, rice wine, ginger powder and pepper. All these components can be found in the nearest culinary shop.
• Before cooking, duck carcass must be doused with boiling water. Meat should turn white. To do this, the carcass is suspended by the neck over any container or sink.
• Duck should be rubbed with a good coarse salt, and then kept in the refrigerator for 12 hours. Thus, it will leave the accumulated blood and excess fluid.
• The second stage of exposure will be greasing the bird carcass with honey. Choose any liquid honey and rub it inside and outside the duck. In this form, the duck must infuse for 12 hours.
• Peking duck is baked in the oven at a temperature of 190 °.
• It is best to place the carcass on the grill rack, and put the pan or pan down with water down. So the duck will not burn, and the flowing fat will be easier for you to wash.
• To make poultry meat juicy, duck carcass should be covered with foil.
• In the process of baking, the duck will need to be smeared with a special sauce, in which lies the secret of its taste and fragrant crisp.
• Best of all, Peking duck is combined with the following side dishes: rice pancakes, cereal, onion feathers or green beans.

Feel like a chef at a Chinese restaurant

As you have noticed, cooking Peking duck is a very troublesome thing and takes a lot of time. But if you prepare the carcass in advance and keep it for 24 hours in the refrigerator, then baking it will take you no more than 2-2.5 hours. Let's cook Peking duck together in the oven at home. And the step-by-step recipe with a photo given below will help you to make a true masterpiece of culinary art from an ordinary bird.

For the preparation of the marinade it is better to use special seasonings, in particular, fennel, Szechuan mixture of peppers, cinnamon powder, cloves and star aniseas. In everyday life Badyan is called anise. It is this seasoning belonging to the family of lemongrass that will give the marinade sauce piquancy and refinement.

Composition:

• 1 chick duck;
• 2 l of filtered water;
• 2 pcs. badiana;
• universal seasoning for poultry - 1 tbsp. l .;
• 60 grams of rice vinegar;
• salt;
• 3 tbsp. l honey;
• 1 piece of chopped ginger root;
• 60 grams of soy sauce.

Cooking:

1. The duck carcass must be chilled, but not frozen.
2. Thoroughly wash it, remove the fat layer, especially from the neck and tail.
3. Drain the duck carcass with a cloth cut or towel, and then lay it on the grid.
4. Next, prepare the marinade mixture.
5. Pour water into a thick-walled container and add all seasonings, rice vinegar, soy sauce, liquid honey, as well as chopped ginger root.
6. Bring marinade mixture to boiling and boil for 3-5 minutes.
7. Pour the duck carcass with boiling marinade. After such a procedure, the skin of the bird should become darker and slightly stretched.
8. We take a deep thick-walled container and a bottle with a nominal volume of 1-1.5 liters. Pre-fill the bottle with clean water.
   
9. On top of the bottle string the carcass. In this form, we leave the bird for a day in the refrigerator.
10. An hour before baking, remove the duck carcass from the refrigerator.
11. Down the breast lay the bird on the grid and send it in the oven, preheated to a temperature threshold of 200 °.
12. At the bottom of the set pan or pan for draining fat.
13. The average baking time is 90 minutes.
14. Let the baked Peking duck leave for 40 minutes, then cut into pieces and serve with spicy sauce, fresh cucumbers and lettuce leaves.

Cooking juicy duck under the most delicate orange sauce

As you have already noticed, the taste of the original Peking duck is covered not only in the prepared sauce, but also in the way the carcass is processed. If you want to save a lot of time, you can take a breast instead of a whole duck. Prepare a delicious Peking duck sauce from freshly squeezed orange juice and serve your dish to the table. The duck in this sauce will be appreciated by households and guests.

Composition:

• 2 duck breasts;
• 8 tbsp. l soy sauce;
• salt and pepper mixture;
• 4 things. medium sized oranges;
• 50 g of white wine;
• 50 g broth.

Cooking:

1. Thaw duck fillet in a natural way and spread on a dish.
2. Season the pulp with salt and pepper mixture. If you like savory dishes, you can add dried cloves, ground ginger and cinnamon powder.
3. Next, proceed to the preparation of orange sauce.
4. To do this, pour broth, white wine and fresh orange juice into a frying pan or other container.
5. Bring sauce to a boil.
6. With two oranges, we need to clear the zest.
7. Put the duck breasts in boiling sauce and fry on both sides.
8. After 10-12 minutes add soy sauce.
9. Then turn off the heat and leave the fried breasts under the lid for 10-15 minutes.
10. Cut them lengthwise and season with orange zest.
11. Fry breasts again for 5 minutes.
12. Serve to the table, decorating the dish with orange slices, mint leaves or salad leaves.

Peking duck in Russian way

If you do not have enough time to prepare the Peking Duck, you can simplify the task. Many housewives have already tried this dish and were satisfied. It is necessary to pickle the bird carcass for no more than an hour, and in the process of baking it in foil the peel will become ruddy and crispy. By the way, if you are planning on the next weekend picnic, then according to this recipe you can bake a duck carcass on the fire.

Composition:

• 1 duck carcass;
• mustard - to taste;
• refined olive oil - to taste;
• salt and pepper mix.

Cooking:

1. We treat the duck carcass as described in previous recipes.
2. Wings are cut off.
3. In a separate bowl, mix in equal proportions olive refined oil and mustard.
4. Rub the duck carcass from all sides with salt and season with a mixture of peppers.
5. Pour the marinade mixture on top of the bird and leave in this form for 60 minutes.
6. In the meantime, the oven is heated to the level of 190-200 °.
7. Wrap duck thoroughly with foil so that there are no gaps, and spread on a baking sheet.
8. Bake duck for 90 minutes. 10 minutes before the end of baking, open the foil.
9. Best of all, a duck with a spicy sauce is in harmony with rice side dish or vegetables.

In order to try the real Peking duck, it is not necessary to go to China. Now you know all the secrets of roasting this bird. During cooking, pay special attention to the marinade, since the taste of the roast duck depends on it. Enjoy your meal!