Home-style Peking duck

Your ingredients

Get ready: Deep roasting tray, rack, kettle, brush, oven gloves, food thermometer and carving board.

• 🍗1 duck
• 🥣2 tbsp fine salt
• 🍯Syrup: 2 tbsp maltose
• 🍯Syrup: 120 ml hot water
• 🍯Syrup: 1 tsp vinegar
• 🥬Stuffing: 2 spring onions
• 🥣Stuffing: 1 head garlic
• 🥣Stuffing: 2 apples
• 🥣Stuffing: 4 star anise
• 🥣Stuffing: 4 bay leaves
• 🥣Stuffing: 2 pieces cassia cinnamon
• 🥣Sauce: 3 tbsp sweet bean sauce
• 🍯Sauce: 1 tsp sugar
• 🍗Peking duck pancakes
• 🥣Scallions
• 🥣Cucumber

Let’s make it

1. Salt and scald carefully

   Pat duck dry without washing it. Rub with salt and rest in its tray in the fridge for 1 hour. An adult should set it securely on a rack in a deep tray and carefully pour about 1.5 litres just-boiled water over the skin, turning with suitable utensils. Avoid splashing and clean raw-poultry surfaces afterwards.

2. Glaze and dry

   Dissolve maltose in hot water and vinegar, or use the honey alternative. Brush skin, refrigerate for 1 hour, then brush again. Keep on a rack in a deep tray on the lowest fridge shelf, away from ready-to-eat food, for 24–48 hours.

3. Prepare for roasting

   Heat oven to 220°C conventional or 200°C fan. Put spring onions, garlic, apples and whole spices in the cavity and close using skewers. Set duck on a rack above a tray for the fat.

4. Roast and check

   Roast breast-side up for 15 minutes. Lower to 200°C conventional or 180°C fan, shield wing and leg tips with foil and roast about 60 minutes more. Check breast and thigh away from bone reach 75°C for 30 seconds; allow longer as needed.

5. Rest and make sauce

   Rest duck for 15 minutes. Carefully warm ½ tbsp rendered duck fat with sweet bean sauce and sauce sugar until bubbling, or use hoisin without added sugar. Discard the cavity flavourings before carving.

6. Build your pancakes

   Warm bought pancakes as directed. An adult can carve duck for serving with sauce, cucumber and fine spring-onion strips. Check every portion for bones.