Peking Duck

Ingredients

• 1 whole duck, about 2.2 kg, preferably Pekin
• 2 tbsp coarse sea salt
• 2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• 3 spring onions, halved
• 4 slices fresh ginger
• 2 litres water, for scalding
• 3 tbsp maltose (or runny honey)
• 2 tbsp Chinese red rice vinegar (or cider vinegar)
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 500 ml water, for the glaze
• 20 thin Mandarin pancakes
• 6 spring onions, cut into fine 6 cm strips
• 1 cucumber, cut into fine 6 cm batons
• 6 tbsp sweet bean sauce or hoisin sauce

Before you cook

• Pat the duck completely dry inside and out with kitchen paper.
• Trim off the excess neck skin and pull any loose fat out of the cavity.
• Mix the sea salt with the five-spice powder and rub it through the cavity only, never the outside skin.
• Push the halved spring onions and ginger slices into the cavity.
• Sew or skewer the cavity shut so the aromatics stay in and the steam builds inside.
• Slide your fingers gently under the breast skin to separate it from the meat without tearing it.
• Cut the fine strips of spring onion and cucumber and keep them cold.

Steps

1. Thread a loop of butcher's string under the wings so the duck can hang freely.
2. Bring 2 litres of water to a hard boil in your largest pot.
3. Ladle the boiling water over the hanging duck for 2 minutes, turning it so every part of the skin tightens and turns opaque.
4. Tip that water away and set the pot back on the heat.
5. Combine 500 ml of fresh water with the maltose, vinegar and Shaoxing wine in the pot and warm it until the maltose has fully dissolved.
6. Ladle the warm glaze over the whole duck four times, catching it in a tray and reusing it.
7. Hang the duck uncovered in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours, until the skin feels dry as parchment and rustles when touched.
8. Heat the oven to 190C and set a rack over a deep roasting tray holding 2 cm of water.
9. Roast the duck breast-side up for 50 minutes.
10. Turn the duck breast-side down and roast for another 20 minutes.
11. Turn it breast-side up again, raise the heat to 220C and roast for a final 12 to 15 minutes, until the skin is deep mahogany.
12. Rest the duck on a board for 10 minutes.
13. Steam the pancakes over simmering water for 5 minutes.
14. Carve the crisp skin away first in coin-sized pieces and lay them on a warm plate.
15. Slice the breast and leg meat thinly and set it alongside the skin.
16. Serve with the hot pancakes, spring onion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce so everyone rolls their own.