Peking Duck Recipe

A legendary dish made easy, this Peking duck recipe doesn’t require any special equipment or advanced skill. But it still tastes so satisfying!

One of the most symbolic dishes of Chinese Cuisine, Peking Duck (北京烤鸭) is a delicacy named after the city where it was invented several hundred years ago (Peking is an older variation of the word Beijing/北京).

It’s a dish consisting of several elements: sliced pieces of roast duck with crispy skin and tender meat, thin pancakes, a savoury sauce and some julienned vegetables. These elements are assembled into a roll for consumption.

Every time I travel back to Beijing where I worked for nearly a decade, Peking duck is always my No.1 dish to eat with family and friends. If you’ve tasted it before, you’d understand why it’s regarded as a culinary art.

Unlike most of the dishes I share on this blog, not many home cooks in China would cook Peking duck in their own kitchen. To produce it to a restaurant standard, you’d need to be highly skilled and have professional equipment, such as a pump to blow up the duck skin, a large oven that allows the duck to be cooked vertically, etc.

In response to some readers’ requests, I’ve tested and come up with an easy version of home-style Peking duck. I wouldn’t say it’s as good as what you get from a good restaurant, but it’s definitely more than satisfying as a homemade dish (my biassed culinary fans in our Red House said it tasted just as good).

This recipe doesn’t require any special equipment or advanced cooking experiences. The steps are explained in detail with extra tips and substitute ideas.

Like roasting five spice chicken, you’ll need to prepare the duck in advance to achieve the best taste and texture. For this recipe, start the process 1 to 2 days before cooking. This involves four simple steps.

Peking Duck, An Easy Home Version (北京烤鸭)

A legendary dish made easy, this Peking duck recipe doesn’t require any special equipment or advanced skill. But it still tastes so satisfying!

Prep: 1560min

Ingredients:

• 1 duck (about 2.5kg/5.5lb)
• 2 tbsp fine salt
• 2 tbsp maltose (see note 1)
• 120 ml hot water (about ½ cup)
• 1 tsp vinegar (see note 2)
• 2 stalks scallions
• 1 head garlic
• 2 apples ( quartered)
• 4 star anise
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 pieces cassia cinnamon
• 3 tbsp sweet bean sauce (Tian Mian Jiang/甜面酱) (see note 3)
• 1 tsp sugar
• Peking duck pancakes (homemade or shop-bought )
• Scallions (julienned)
• Cucumber (peeled and seeds removed, cut into sticks)

Instruction:

1. Keep the duck refrigerated uncovered (over the rack and inside a tray) for 24 to 48 hours.
2. Check the doneness by inserting an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken (the inner thigh area near the breast). The temperature should be no lower than 74C°/165F°.
3. When eating, spread a little sauce over a pancake, put the duck, scallions and cucumber in the middle. Wrap up into a cylinder and enjoy.
4. After most of the meat has been removed from the duck, boil the carcass in water to make a soup with Napa cabbage or winter melon. Simply add salt and white pepper to season.

Easy Peking Duck with Mandarin Pancakes

This easy Peking Duck recipe features crispy duck breast & homemade Mandarin pancakes. Impress guests with a Peking Duck dinner that’s easier than it looks!

Prep: 720min

Total: 745min

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 539 kcal, Carbohydrate 46 g, Protein 51 g, Fat 15 g, Saturated Fat 3 g, Cholesterol 174 mg, Sodium 634 mg, Fiber 2 g, Sugar 6 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless duck breasts ((about 6-7 oz./170-200g each with the skin on; rinsed and thoroughly patted dry with a paper towel))
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
• 1/8 teaspoon five spice powder
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 cucumber ((de-seeded and julienned))
• 1/2 cup cantaloupe ((julienned, optional))
• 2 scallions ((julienned))
• 3 cloves garlic ((finely minced and mixed with 1 teaspoon oil to make a paste, optional))
• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

Instruction:

1. Mix the salt, soy sauce, wine, and five spice powder in a small bowl and massage into the duck. Leave the duck breasts skin side up on a plate uncovered, and let sit in the refrigerator overnight to marinate and to let the skin dry out. (If you don’t want to wait overnight, reduce the marinating time to 30 minutes).
2. The pancakes can be reheated in a steamer for about a minute when ready to serve. They also keep in the freezer for up to 3 weeks if you decide to make a larger batch.
3. Serve the duck with your warmed pancakes, fixings, and sauce.

Homemade Peking Duck

Homemade Peking duck, Simplified steps for the best result

Prep: 1440min

Total: 1520min

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 2294 kcal, Carbohydrate 20 g, Protein 58 g, Fat 204 g, Saturated Fat 67 g, Cholesterol 380 mg, Sodium 722 mg, Sugar 16 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 duck ( ,clean, lean around 1000g)
• 1 tsp. white vinegar ( ,for soaking)
• 2 tbsp. oyster sauce
• 1 tsp. Chinese five spice powder
• 2 tbsp. maltose
• 2 tbsp. boiling water
• 1.5 tbsp. Chinese cooking wine
• 10 pecking duck pancake
• 2 tbsp. sweet bean sauce
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 English cucumber
• 2 leek onions ( ,white part only)

Instruction:

1. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of maltose with 2 tablespoons of hot water and 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar. Then brush the liquid evenly on the duck skin (the liquid should be warm for the first brushing). Then wait for 30 minutes and brush again. Hang on for at least 24 hours (I don’t recommend making this is summer, autumn and winter are the best seasons). In winter, you can hang up for 5 days.
2. Pre-heat oven to 180 degree C. Place the duck on a baking grill and use a lined baking pan to catch the drops. And then roast for 20 minutes. Then take the duck over and roast the other side for another 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 120 degree C and continue roasting for 30 minutes. (My bird is around 1000g each one, if you get larger ones, lengthen another 10 minutes for 500g weight addition).
3. Option 2: Set the oven temperature to 180 degree C again and re-roast for 6-10 minutes (watch carefully at this step and do not let the skin get burnt.)
4. Firstly cut a line around the breast. Then divide into two part in the middle. Then slice the breast meat with skins one by one. You can hand-shred the left meat off and leave the leftover bones for a soup broth.
5. Sweet bean sauce (甜面酱): mix 2 tablespoons of sweet red bean sauce with 1 tablespoon of sesame oil.
6. Take one duck wrapper, brush around 1 teaspoon of sweet red bean paste on the bottom, lay a small brunch of shredded leek onion and a small strip of cucumber. Then place two slices of duck breast. Roll up and enjoy.

How to make Peking Duck (Beijing Roast Duck)

FAQ

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