Peking Duck Pancake Plate
Peking Duck is China's imperial banquet centerpiece: a whole duck air-dried, glazed with maltose, and roasted until the skin turns lacquered and shatteringly crisp. It's served sliced with paper-thin scallion pancakes, sweet bean sauce, julienned scallion, and cucumber for guests to assemble themselves.
By YumYum Editorial · Chinese
Prep: 40 min · Cook: 1 min · Total: 41 min · Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 whole duck (4-5 lbs), neck and giblets removed
- 2 tbsp maltose (or honey mixed with 1 tbsp hot water)
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 16 store-bought or homemade thin Mandarin pancakes
- 1/2 cup sweet bean sauce (tianmianjiang) or hoisin sauce
- 1 English cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks
- 6 scallions, cut into thin matchsticks
Instructions
- Pat the duck completely dry, then rub the cavity with salt and five-spice powder.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and carefully ladle boiling water over the duck skin repeatedly for 2-3 minutes to tighten it — this helps the skin crisp during roasting.
- Whisk maltose, rice vinegar, and Shaoxing wine together, then brush this glaze evenly over the entire duck skin.
- Hang or place the duck uncovered on a rack in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours to air-dry the skin thoroughly — this step is essential for crispness.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Place the duck breast-side up on a roasting rack set over a pan to catch drippings. Roast 45 minutes.
- Flip the duck breast-side down and roast 20 minutes, then flip back breast-side up and roast a final 20-25 minutes until the skin is deep mahogany and crackling and internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- Rest the duck 15 minutes, then carve the skin and meat into thin slices.
- Warm the pancakes by steaming briefly. Serve the sliced duck alongside pancakes, sweet bean sauce, cucumber, and scallion matchsticks for guests to assemble: smear sauce on a pancake, add duck, cucumber, and scallion, then roll and eat.