Simple Peking Duck (家常烤鸭)

Peking duck is famous for its thin, crispy skin. It is easier to roast a duck, but hard to get the crispness. There are many opinions and approaches. I picked and choose an feasible way out for me. This requires very few ingredients, but takes a long time - total 2-4 days. The result is pretty good. The baking tray caught a load of fat from the duck. Maybe my duck is too skinny. I just feel that there is not enough meat to eat :-)

Ingredient:

Duck - 1 whole, defrosted
Salt - enough for rubbing the duck inside and outside
Pepper - enough for rubbing the duck inside and outside
Honey - enough for coating duck 3 times

Steps:

1. On a hot frying pan, fry grounded pepper and salt together to make pepper salt.

 2. Rub duck with pepper salt, both inside and outside. Put in a plastic bag or covered container and marinate 1-2 days in refrigerator.

3. Use boiling water to rinse the duck until the skin tightens.
4. Add some warm water to honey to make a honey water and apply it all over the duck. Then hang the duck in a cool place with good air flow (I define that as my kitchen corner :-) and used a hiking pole and cloth hanger) Make sure to put a tray underneath. Let it hang for 1-2 days.

4. Preheat over to 400°F.
5. Apply another coat of honey water around the duck; wrap the head, wings, tips of legs with aluminum foil.
6. Place it in a baking rack and bake for 20 minutes.

7. Take the duck out, apply another layer of honey water, and flip it over. Bake for another 20 minutes.

8. Take the duck out, set oven to BROIL HI. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes to crisp the skin. Make sure to watch the duck so that it is not burned. Once it is browned, take out and serve.