Duck

Wined Duck

To be frank and brutally honest, you're not going to make Peking Duck the authentic way. Why? Because this one dish alone will take you all day, or even more. Prepared the traditional way, a specially-fattened fresh-killed duck is rubbed with spices. The skin is loosened and inflated with air, then the duck is hung to dry, followed by slow roasting over a fire. Then it is sliced into 120 perfectly uniform pieces, and a piece of crisp skin is sandwiched with a piece of succulent meat and enclosed in a thin pancake seasoned with sweet hoisin sauce and fresh julienned scallion.

You gonna do that? Maybe once. Maybe once you'll try. Then you'll do what everybody else does at home: either roast a duck just like it was a chicken, or even settle for chicken. But it's better with duck.

You find this dish in Chinese restaurants more than in the home because it's easier to make when you're roasting 100 ducks at a time and that's your day job, that's all you do (except for delivering the finished ducks to restaurants.) Here, however, is a recipe that gets you very close and still allows you to (a) make other dishes that day, and (b) enjoy your dinner.

Peking Duck

One 5 to 6 pound Duck
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°. Season the entire duck with salt and pepper and roast in a roasting pan for 2 hours. When the duck is done, remove the wings and legs. Slice off the skin and reserve. Carve the remaining meat into thin slices and arrange the slices on your serving plate alternating with slices of crispy skin. Serve with scallion, either turned into little "brushes" or simply julienned, and a dish of hoisin sauce and a supply of Mandarin Pancakes.

Mandarin Pancakes

You can cheat: flour tortillas can be cut into small rounds and moistened by steaming … you can even just cut them in half instead of going for smaller round shapes. Or you can make them:

2 cups Flour
¾ cup boiling Water
1 tablespoon cold Water
2 tablespoons Sesame Oil

Place the flour in a bowl and gradually pour in the boiling water, stirring with a wooden spoon until it is mixed. Continue to stir as you add the cold water. As soon as your hands can stand the heat, knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes. When the dough has relaxed, roll it out into a 16" inch long rope, which is then cut into 16 1" pieces. Shape each piece into a ball and flatten each piece into a circle using the palm of your hand. Brush the top of each piece with sesame oil and place one piece on top of another, oiled sides together. Continue until you have eight pairs.

Roll each pair of cakes into a thin 6-inch circle, dusting with a little flour if they stick to the pin.
Heat an un-oiled nonstick pan (a cast-iron skillet will do) over medium heat. Cook each pair of pancakes on both sides for approximately 1 minute on each side or until light brown bubbles appear. Remove from the pan and separate into their two component pieces while still hot. Cover with a damp cloth while cooking the rest of the pancakes. You can prepare them to this stage in advance, then steam them, wrapped in a clean cloth, for 5 minutes.

To assemble, smear each pancake with a little hoisin sauce. Lay a slice of meat and a slice of skin in each pancake, and garnish with the scallion. Garnish each serving platter with one of the removed legs or wings.