Peking Duck / Canard Laqué

As I had been planning smoking duck breasts this weekend, then realised that it coincided with Flo's friend visiting I had to come up with something to feed her Saturday night.  So I decided that as there would be smoke and duck already in the air I would give Peking / Crispy Duck a go too.

If anyone else fancies having a go, you will need a duck, some runny honey, sesame seed oil, soy sauce, ginger and a little sherry, unless you happen to have some shao hsing lurking in the store cupboard...

Ingredients

1 x 2 kg Duck / Canard
50 ml Sherry / Vin de Xérès (in France you may have trouble finding this, substitute white port or dry Madera)
1 Tbsp (15 ml) Honey / Miel (the more liquid sort)
1 Tbsp (15 ml) Soy sauce / Sauce Soja
1 Tbsp (15 ml) Sesame Seed Oil / Huile de Sesame
2 tsp (10 ml) Ginger (Powdered) / Gingembre Moulu
1 tsp (5 ml) Pepper / Poivre
1 half tsp (2.5 ml) Chile Powder / Poudre de Piment

For Serving

Hoisin sauce / Sauce Hoisin
Chinese Pancakes / Crepes Chinoises (maybe i should try making these myself too.....hmmmmm......shall have to see)
Spring Onions / Oignon en tige

Preparation

First of all clean the bird and remove any excessive fat and skin from the tail and neck areas. Reserve inards to use later along with the bones for a tasty Duck Soup. Carefully go over the skin and remove any pin feathers n bits that the butcher may have ignored/overseen.

Now take the neck end of the carcass and cut around the neck, then through where it meets the backbone. You should then be able to remove the neck portion entirely..it may require a little pulling. You will end up with a carcass that is open at both ends. This will allow air and more importantly smoke to flow freely through the body cavity of the bird later.

Bring to the boil 5 litres of water. Scold the entire surface of the bird, until it turns white and goes sort of spongy.

Pat dry throughly inside and out with clean tea towels or kitchen paper.

Take a spike or a sharply pointed (thin) skewer and stab the bird all over, but particularly in the meatier areas.

Now its time to make your marinade paste. Mix all the remaining ingredients well.

Ready a container big enough to hold the carcass, then rub the bird inside and out with the paste.

Place the duck in the container breast down and add any remaining paste over the top and distribute as evenly as possible.

Do not close the container, but leave it in the bottom of the fridge or any other suitably cold place for 12 hrs.

12 hrs later, take the box out of the fridge and scrape up any paste in the bottom and rub it back onto and into the duck. Replace the duck in the container, this time breast side up and return to the fridge for a further 12 hrs.

Repeat the overhaul of the duck and turn the bird over once again, so the breast is down. Return to fridge for a further 12 hrs.

Take the duck out of the fridge when ready and rinse inside and out with cold water.

Stuff the duck with clean tea towels, place on another towel or better several in the fridge uncovered for a further 12 hrs. 

The smoking and cooking

On the morning of the smoking, truss the legs and wings of the duck with butchers string. Its a good idea to tie the legs together, so that you have a loop from which to suspend the duck in the smoker.

Now prepare the smoker by placing a large drip tray between the position the duck will be hanging in and the heat source and sawdust. This is very important with duck, as it is quite a fatty bird and will shed quite a bit of fat whilst smoking....this you dont want in your smoldering sawdust.

Hang the duck vertically (tail up) in the smoker and set to about 60° and leave the bird to dry for a good hour without adding any sawdust...No smoke should be applied to the duck until the surface is well dried. If you smoke damp or wet meat you run the risk of creosote deposition on the food....really not nice at all!!

Now reduce the temperature of the smoker as low as possible (if you can turn heat off altogether and just smoke with the heat of the sawdust, thats just great) and leave the duck to cold smoke for 3 hrs.

After three hours in the smoker turn up or reapply heat and bring the smoker to 65 - 70°C. Leave the duck to smoke again for three more hours....replenishing sawdust as required.

After the smoking is finished, take the duck out and move to the kitchen.

Heat the oven to 175°C and place the duck on a roasting rack in a deepish tray or pan, covered with an aluminium foil tent. The duck must be kept out of its own dripping fat during the cooking, a good 2cm of clearance is advised.

Roast until internal temperature reaches about 75°C (upto 2 hrs at 175°C)

Now remove the aluminium foil tent and glaze the duck with a mixture of honey and soy sauce in equal measure (2 heavyhanded tablespoons of each should do the job!)

Turn the oven up to 250°C and roast uncovered for a further 15 mins to crisp up the skin and give the dish its final colouring.

Before carving the duck, let it sit to cool uncovered for 15 mins.

Carve and serve with the Hoisin Sauce, Spring Onions and Pancakes.

The pancakes can be bought or they are easy enough to make according to the recipe on Waitrose (of all places). Chinese Pancakes for Peking Duck. Why not give it a go!

Any bits of meat that don't get eaten can be stir fried the next day with noodles and further leftovers (bones etc) can be added to the organs et al for a warming duck soup.

All the best

Guy