Delicious, aromatic, and roasted slowly, Peking Duck is an absolute classic on most Chinese restaurant and takeaway menus in the UK. Gently flavoured, melt in the mouth, shredded meat with a super crispy, brown skin, served wrapped in pancakes with sweet hoisin sauce and crispy vegetables. You will be amazed how authentic and utterly addictive these filled pancakes are!

Is Peking Duck difficult to make?

Peking duck is not difficult to make but it does take time and you need to start making it the day before you want to eat it. However, the good news is that most of this time is hands off! Traditionally the duck is soaked a couple of times in the soaking solution, hung up using a meat hook and dried, either in a cool, well-ventilated space for a few hours or in front of a fan, after each soaking. This recipe involves just one soaking and then leaving the duck in fridge, uncovered over-night. An awful lot easier and certainly more pet friendly when you have cats and dogs in the house.

Does it taste authentic?

Oh my gosh YES! The first time I made it, I was not only surprised how easy it was, but also how authentic it tasted. You would never know that it had not come from your local Chinese. Next time you are entertaining, why not wow your guests with this spectacular dish? The little prep there is, is done before hand, you need only a few, quick to prepare sides and then simply shred the duck at the table. It works really well with Kung Pao Chicken and Prawn Toasts, (recipe coming soon) if you are looking for some extra deliciousness!

Where is the recipe from?

I am no expert in Chinese cooking at all. I have never been to mainland China, just Hong Kong and Macau, many moons ago. Although I have eaten my fair share of Chinese food, the majority has been in the UK! This is absolutely not my recipe – I went straight to the incredible Ken Hom. This is slightly adapted from Ken’s easy version – where he explains how to dry the duck in the fridge overnight. I also included some more authentic ingredients, such as Chinese black vinegar, in the soaking liquid and the spices in the cavity of the duck, which is from his traditional recipe. Please find the links to both these recipes below:

Ken Hom

Ken Hom is a Chinese-American chef, cookery book author and television presenter specialising in Chinese cuisine. Internationally famous, he currently resides between France and Japan and apparently 1 in 7 people in the UK own a Chinese cookery book penned by Ken Hom.

How to make Chinese Peking Duck Pancakes with Hoisin Sauce, Spring Onions and Cucumber

Collect all your ingredients together:

Duck and soaking liquid:

water
Chinese black vinegar (or lemon juice)
runny honey
dark soy sauce
Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
1 whole duck

Spice mix:

Sichuan peppercorns or Sichuan pepper
coarse sea salt
Chinese five spice powder

To cook:

water

To serve:

Chinese pancakes for Peking duck
Hoisin sauce
cucumber
spring onions

How to make this spectacular dish:

NB You need to start making this duck dish about 25 hours before you plan to cook it.

First make the soaking liquid, prepare, baste and refrigerate the duck for 24 hours

Make the soaking liquid first: The liquid needs to cool, so make it around an hour before you want to soak the duck.
Measure everything together into a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
When the soaking liquid is cool, you can prepare the duck. Remove anything that may be in the cavity. Wash the duck in clean cold water and pat the duck with kitchen paper to dry it as much as possible.
Prepare, baste and refrigerate the duck: when the soaking liquid has cooled, pour it into the baking tray you will be using.
Place the duck in the liquid, breast side down. Leave it for 5 minutes. Baste the duck with the liquid and then turn the duck over.
Baste this side of the duck and leave for a further 5 minutes.
Remove the duck from the baking tray, pour out the soaking liquid, wash the tray and insert a rack. Place the duck on the rack, breast side up and place in the fridge, uncovered, for 24 hours to allow time for the skin to dry.
When you are ready to cook it, remove from the fridge. The duck skin should feel like parchment. Swill out any blood which may have dripped into the base of the dish and dry out the cavity of the bird with kitchen towel.
Preheat oven.

Prepare the spice mix: if you are using Sichuan peppercorns, (as opposed to powder) heat a frying pan over a moderate heat and add the peppercorns. Heat for 1 – 2 minutes until the peppercorns are aromatic. Shake the pan from time to time to ensure the peppercorns heat evenly.
Tip the peppercorns into a spice blender and blitz until they make a powder.
Simply measure the spice ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
You now need to rub the spices into the cavity of the duck; the easiest way to do this is with your hand.
Place the duck back onto the rack in the baking tray and pour the water into the base of the tray.
Cook the duck in the centre of the for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn the temperature of the oven down.
The duck will be a very dark brown when cooked but do keep an eye on it to make sure it does not get too brown. I cook mine using the fan function and place an oven rack above the duck with a baking tray on top to prevent some of the direct heat over browning it. Alternatively, place some foil very loosely over the duck if you are worried it will become too brown. There is no need to base the duck, just let it cook and check it to make sure it does not get too brown.
When the duck is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before shredding.

Prepare the pancakes, spring onion and cucumber: heat the pancakes in accordance with packet instructions.
Trim and wash the spring onions and finely slice into lengths around 4-5cms long.
Wash the cucumber and slice into thin batons also around 4-5cms long.

Serve your fabulous duck:

To serve: just before you serve the duck, transfer to a heated plate. Using 2 forks, simply shred the soft meat. You can remove the bones but the crispy skin is utterly delicious.
Serve at the table with the hot pancakes, hoisin sauce, spring onions and cucumber.
Simply spread some hoisin sauce over the base of the pancake and top with some duck, spring onion and cucumber. Roll up and eat! Simply amazing.

Some ingredients are hard to find. Can you suggest any replacements?

light soy sauce – can be replaced with all-purpose soy sauce. Do not replace with dark soy sauce, the flavour will be too strong.
dark soy sauce – this is widely available in most supermarkets. At a push, you can use all-purpose soy sauce, such as Kikkoman
Shaoxing Cooking wine – can be replaced with a dry sherry or Japanese cooking sake. Simply do not add, if you are looking for alcohol free,
Chinese black vinegar – this can be replaced with lemon juice. You could also use rice wine vinegar (use 2 tablespoons), a mild balsamic vinegar (use 1½ tablespoons) or white wine vinegar (use 1½ tablespoons). Do not use Taiwanese black vinegar, the flavour profile is very different.
Sichuan peppercorns – this are also becoming more widely available these days. If you cannot get hold of them, replace with half black peppercorns, half coriander seeds and the grated rind of ½ lemon.
Chinese five spice powder – is widely available in supermarkets in the dried herbs and spices section.
Chinese pancakes for Peking duck – are readily available in Asian shops and frequently available in large supermarkets. Check out the freezer section.
Hoisin sauce – is widely available in supermarkets. It should be with the soy sauce selection.

How long should I cook my duck for?

You should calculate the cooking time so that the duck comes out of the oven 15 minutes before you want to eat it. It is important the duck has time to rest before you shred it.

To calculate to how long to cook your duck, you simply need to cook it for 30 minutes at the higher temperature. Reduce the temperature and continue to cook the duck for 30 minutes per 500g/6 minutes per 100g. My duck weighed 2.8kg so I cooked it for:

30 minutes at Fan Oven 180°C/200°C/400°F/Gas 6 (I used the fan function.)
168 minutes or 2 hours and 48 minutes at Fan Oven 150°C/170°C/325°F/Gas 4.

Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.