Quite interesting and diverse are the traditions (in the broad sense of this concept) of Chinese cuisine. Peking duck is one of the most famous original Chinese dishes. According to experts, this way of cooking ducks was originally formed in Shandong Province. The dish became very popular at the imperial court in Beijing during the Yuan dynasty. In 1330, the imperial medic and dietitian Hu Sikhui published a duck recipe in Beijing in his fundamental work "The Essential Principles of Nutrition." Subsequently, the recipe spread everywhere under the current name.
Is it difficult to cook a duck in Beijing?
Some people who are not too versed in cooking ask questions like "how to make a duck in Beijing or, more precisely, how to make a duck in Beijing in ordinary home conditions"? We will immediately upset the unlucky lovers of culinary exotics: the authentic preparation of a duck in Beijing according to the original recipe requires an attentive approach, certain skills and special equipment (a special oven is used), which is not possible under normal domestic conditions. However, we can talk about a simplified, so to speak, adapted recipe. It should also be noted that in the classical, as well as in the simplified version, a Peking duck with apples is not cooked and served!
On some features of the dish
Before cooking, the duck is marinated. Marinade for duck in Beijing is a complex mixture of several ingredients (honey, ginger, soy sauce). Before serving, the meat of a duck cooked in Beijing is usually cut into thin slices and served with pancakes (pancakes) and sauces ("Hojsin" sauce and / or a sweet burdock sauce). Also served young onions and cucumbers, cut into strips. Skin should be thin, tender and crispy, and meat - low-fat. Such an effect is possible only if the technology is strictly followed. Pancakes for a duck in Beijing usually serve rice. In Chinese specialized restaurants, a duck in Beijing is ordered and cooked entirely. After cutting meat from the remaining parts, broth is prepared, and on its basis - soup from Chinese cabbage, which is usually served after the meat.
Simplified recipe
In general, we all like to eat deliciously, and therefore we offer wishing to cook a duck, so to speak, in Chinese style according to simplified technology.
Ingredients:
- 1 duck weighing about 2 kg;
- 1-2 tablespoons of natural flower honey without a pungent odor;
- 3 tablespoons of quality soya dark sauce;
- 1 tablespoon of good sesame oil;
- 1 root of ginger.
Preparation:
Duck is washed, twice scalded with boiling water and dried cloth. We rub the carcass with salt and leave it overnight in a cool place (on the shelf of the refrigerator). In the evening we will prepare marinade. We rub the ginger on the grater. Mix honey, ginger, sesame oil and soy sauce, let this mixture stand until morning. In the morning we strain the sauce and abundantly grease them with a duck. The remaining sauce will be diluted with water and poured into the duck carcass. Shake it and leave it for an hour or two.
We bake a duck
We will warm up the oven to about 220ºС. We put the duck in the oven, on the grate over the baking tray with a small amount of water (or can be baked in foil). We bake a duck for about 1.5 hours, as soon as the skin becomes bloated - the temperature is lowered. The sap flowing from the carcass should become transparent. The skin of the finished duck should have a dark golden-brown hue.
Cooking pancakes
We prepare pancakes, for example, from a mixture of rice and wheat flour (1: 1). Flour sift and knead a simple, fairly steep dough in water with the addition of sesame oil. We roll out flat cakes with a rolling pin and bake them in a frying pan, it is possible - on oil, and it is possible and without - it is even more useful.
Feed the duck correctly
On a scone, greased with sauce, we put a piece of duck, onion feather and a slice of pickled cucumber, wrapped and sent to your mouth - very tasty! To a duck cooked in Chinese style, it's good to serve rice shaoxing wine, maotai or ergatou. Presumably, European table wines are also quite suitable.