Peking duck classic recipe

Choose a young duck for roasting. Ideal if it is chilled rather than frozen poultry. We clean the carcass from dirt, singe, if necessary, and rinse thoroughly in warm water from the inside and outside. Then we dry well.

From the prepared carcass, we cut off the upper phalanges of the wings so that they do not burn ahead of time, and also remove excess fat in the neck and tail. If you don't want to cut the phalanges, you will need to wrap them in foil before baking.

We hold the carcass with one hand over the sink, and with the other we scald it with boiling water. It is important to do this so that the skin and meat are not cooked, so there should be no more than half a liter of boiling water.

After treatment with boiling water, dry the bird with paper towels and leave to cool for ten to fifteen minutes.

Using a skewer or a toothpick, pierce the carcass in several places so that the marinade better penetrates the meat.

Put the dried duck in a wide bowl and pour over the sherry. We also pour the fragrant liquid into the inner cavity of the carcass. Rub the surface thoroughly with sherry so that not a single uncovered area remains. Let us lie down for thirty minutes in this position.

We put a clean empty bottle or a tall glass on the tray. We put the carcass on it so that it stays stable and does not fall over. The duck will drip sherry onto the tray. We collect it with a spoon and water the carcass again.

Sprinkle the duck with salt (large table salt, not iodized) and rub it gently into the skin with your palms so as not to tear. We put the structure with the duck in the refrigerator and marinate it for twelve hours.

After the specified time has elapsed, we heat up half of the specified amount of honey so that it becomes liquid. Using a silicone brush, grease the outside of the carcass with honey, without removing it from the bottle. We again send the duck to marinate in the refrigerator for twelve hours.

When the specified time has passed, we take the duck out of the refrigerator, remove it from the bottle and put it back down on the wire rack. If the wing phalanges were not cut off, then we wrap them with foil so that they do not burn. We put the wire rack on a baking sheet, into which we pour two or three glasses of hot water. From above, cover everything with foil with the shiny side inward and bend the edges well.The poultry will be inside this whole structure and will be steamed from a baking sheet during baking. Preheat the oven to a temperature of 190 degrees. On the middle-lower level, we install a structure from a baking sheet and a grate with a duck. We bake for seventy to eighty minutes.

To prepare the sauce, in a small bowl, mix half the soy sauce, sesame oil, black pepper and gruel and peeled and finely grated ginger root. Beat everything together - you should get a thick paste.

After the specified baking time has elapsed, we take out the structure with the duck from the oven. We remove the baking sheet with water, remove the foil completely. Grease the carcass with cooked sauce from all sides. Place the duck on the wire rack and place the wire rack in the oven. To prevent dripping drops from sticking to the bottom of the oven, you can put any baking dish or baking sheet on the lower level. We increase the temperature of the oven to 250 degrees and bake the duck for another twenty-five minutes. During baking, we monitor the carcass so that it does not burn. It may take less time.

In a small bowl, combine the rest of the honey and soy sauce. Lubricate the duck with the resulting mixture. Reduce the oven temperature to 220 degrees. We bake for another ten to fifteen minutes. You can turn on the convection or grill mode for more effective crust formation.

We do not get the finished duck out of the oven right away. We open the door and let the bird stand in the oven for another ten to fifteen minutes.

Then we transfer the bird to a serving dish and serve hot. Traditionally, Peking duck is complemented with Chinese egg pancakes, fresh cucumber cubes and green onions. Plum sauce is also ideal.