Text 24734, 138 rader
Skriven 2012-01-22 18:21:26 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
Ärende: Fidonews Volume 29 Number 4  F O O D:  F O R   T H O U G H T
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                          F O O D:  F O R   T H O U G H T
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    National Peking Duck Day, Jan. 18th
    By Janis Kracht, 1:126/38, janis@filegate.net

    I'm not kidding.. this week the world celebrated National
    Peking Duck Day on January 18th - though I would expect
    this one is really a "US restaurant-introduced" holiday.

    Peking Duck was introduced in the United States sometime
    around 1975, but Peking Duck as we know it has been around
    for a very long time.  It was a favorite of the Ming
    Dynasty in the 1500's, and supposedly first created well
    before that in the Yuan Dynasty in the 1200's.

    My own search for Chinese cookbooks several years ago was
    driven by my love of Peking Duck, with it's crispy
    flavorful skin and tender meat.  We'd enjoyed it quite a
    bit when we were living in Louisville years ago, but once
    we moved to the ultimate in country life in Windsor, NY, we
    knew that to get Peking Duck we'd have to travel to
    Binghamton, NY,  a good 20 minutes away.

    The duck is traditionally roasted in a brick oven with open
    fire to crisp the skin.  Using this recipe though, you can
    create this dish at home.  Be prepared for smoke in your
    kitchen, so keep your kitchen hood/vent running while
    roasting.

    Peking Duck
    1 5lb duck
    salt
    4 cups boiling water for scalding

    Coating:
    3 tablespoons honey
    3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
    4 cups water

    Duck Sauce for Serving:
    1/3 cup hoisin sauce
    1 teaspoon rice wine
    1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

    Steamed Chinese pancakes for serving
    green onion, sliced thinly lengthwise. and cut into about
    2" inch lengths.

    Equipement:
    small handheld air pump with nozzle
    string
    hook
    large roasting pan
    ladle
    wooden chopstick
    small fan (optional)

    Remove extra fat from the neck of the duck, cut off the
    duck's last wing segment on each wing.  Push the chopstick
    under the duck's wings through the duck's back to hold the
    wings away from the duck's body.

    Rinse the duck, inside and out.  Rub the duck with salt all
    over, and then rinse again.  Hang the duck on the hook and
    let the duck dry for about a half hour.

    Tie off the neck of the duck with string.  Insert the pump
    into the neck under the skin gently, and force air under
    the skin to separate the skin a bit from the body.

    Boil 4 cups of water.  Hang the duck on a hook over the
    sink, and ladle the 4 cups of boiling water all over the
    duck.  The skin will darken slightly and tighten as you do
    this.

    Bring the coating indredients to a boil, and ladle this
    mixture all over the duck.  Now you have to let the duck
    completely dry..  it may take 6-12 hours.  I've been able
    to get it to dry in about 2-3 hours using a small fan
    blowing on the duck.

    Preheat the oven to 450F.  Place about 1 1/2 inches of
    water in a large roasting pan.  Place the pan carefully on
    the bottom rack of the oven.  Place the duck, breast side
    down, on a rack above the pan of water.  The pan of water
    will catch the ducks' fat.  Roast for 10 minutes at 450F,
    then reduce the heat to 425F and turn the duck over.  Roast
    for another 10 minutes.  If the duck starts to brown too
    fast, you can reduce the heat to 400F, in my "smallish"
    oven this is what I had to do.  Continue roasting the duck
    for about 45-50 minutes longer, turning it over often,
    until done.  When done, the skin will be a cripsy lovely
    brown.  Remove the duck from the oven and let it rest for
    about 10 minutes before slicing.

    While the duck is drying, make the pancakes:
    1 3/4 cups flour
    3/4 cup boiling water

    Add boiling water to the flour and mix immediately.  Knead
    for about 5 minutes, cover with plastic wrap and rest for
    30 minutes.  Roll the dough into a long 12" tube.  Cut tube
    into 12 sections.  Roll out each section into 5" pancake,
    then brush each one with sesame seed oil on one side.
    Place oiled sides together to form 6 pancakes.  Place
    pancakes on a hot grill until brown spots appear on one
    side, turn them over and do the same with the other side.
    Separate each into two pancakes.  Steam the pancakes in a
    stack.

    To serve, slice the duck meat, put some duck sauce on a
    pancake, add green onion and duck meat.












    FIDONEWS Vol 29 No 04               Page 3           January 23, 2012





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