Easy At-Home Peking Duck Recipe

In the mood for duck? If so, look no further than this tasty Peking duck that you can fix up in the comfort if your own home. Recipe developer Ting Dalton came up with this fantastic recipe that you will want to make over and over again. "Peking duck is a real culinary highlight in our family. And one of my favorite dishes from my childhood is duck rice — pieces of Peking duck with plain boiled rice and some soy sauce. My dad would make it all the time," Dalton says. She also explains why she loves cooking with duck so much. "Duck is so versatile because why you can eat it with rice, I also love to shred the meat and eat it with pancakes — my children's favorite way to eat this." And, she does acknowledge that you could simply order crispy duck from takeout, but "it can be greasy and an expensive treat."

One more plus? It's easy. "While you may think this is a hard recipe, it's actually very simple. The hardest part is being patient and drying out the skin so that you get it lovely and crispy," Dalton shares. Keep reading to find out how to make this awesome dish. 

You're in luck because this recipe requires just a few ingredients. Pick up a whole duck, water, honey, dark soy sauce, Chinese rice vinegar (or cider vinegar), and sea salt.

Take out the duck and put it in your sink or another flat surface. Wash the cavity thoroughly, and then pat it dry with paper towels. Then, grab a sharp skewer and make tiny pricks all over the duck's skin.

Fill a kettle with some water and place it on your stove. Turn the heat to high and wait for it to begin boiling. In the meantime, place the duck in the sink. Once the water starts to boil, carefully pour it around the duck skin to blanch and tighten it. 

Make sure to turn the duck and blanch all the skin. Then, pat the inside and outside dry. "While restaurants would hang ducks up with hooks to dry out the skin, you can easily place the duck on a rack in your refrigerator," Dalton notes. "But the key to making the skin crispy is by pouring boiling water over the skin, so that it tightens the skin."

Take out a bowl and add the salt, honey, soy sauce, and vinegar with ½ cup of boiling water and mix until completely dissolved. This is your brine. "The brine adds the flavor and ensures the meat is very tender," Dalton notes.

Use a pastry brush to mix the sauce all over the duck skin and then pop the duck into the fridge for at least an hour. Once the hour is up, brush another layer of sauce all over the duck's skin. Then, place the duck on a rack over a tray and pop it back in the fridge for 24-48 hours. Please note that you don't need to cover it. 

About an hour before you are ready to roast the duck, take it out of the fridge and let it sit and come down to room temperature.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 420 F. Once the duck sits for an hour and the oven finishes preheating, sit the duck on a rack in a roasting tin with the breast side up. Add ½ cup of water to the tin to prevent the fat from spattering while the duck cooks. Pop the duck into the oven to roast for 15 minutes.

Reduce the heat to 300 F and then continue roasting the duck for another 1 hour and 10 minutes. Once your timer goes off, remove the duck from the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes.

Remove the duck from the oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes. You can carve the duck into pieces or shred the meat for duck pancakes. It's totally up to you how you wish to serve. "You can serve shredded duck meat with pancakes, thinly sliced green onions, and hoisin sauce," Dalton shares.

Anything left? "Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for up to three days and then reheated," Dalton notes.