China • National Dish • Main Course

Peking Duck

A home-friendly Peking-style duck with crisp skin, tender meat, and the classic pancake, scallion, cucumber, and sauce finish.

Servings4

Prep Time30 min

Cook Time90 min

DifficultyModerate

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Ingredients

US Metric

1 whole duck, about 4 1/2 to 5 lb

1 tbsp Shaoxing wine

1 3/4 tsp fine salt

2 tsp five-spice powder

1 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tbsp honey or maltose, warmed

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp boiling water

1 cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks

4 scallions, cut into thin matchsticks

12 Mandarin pancakes, warmed

1/3 cup sweet bean sauce or hoisin sauce

1 whole duck, about 2 to 2.3 kg

15 ml Shaoxing wine

10 g fine salt

5 g five-spice powder

15 ml light soy sauce

30 ml honey or maltose, warmed

15 ml dark soy sauce

30 ml boiling water

1 cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks

4 scallions, cut into thin matchsticks

12 Mandarin pancakes, warmed

80 g sweet bean sauce or hoisin sauce

Instructions

Pat the duck very dry inside and out. Trim excess fat from the cavity and around the neck. Rub the cavity with the Shaoxing wine, then season the duck all over, including inside, with the salt and five-spice powder.
Stir together the light soy sauce, honey or maltose, dark soy sauce, and boiling water. Brush or spoon this mixture all over the duck to coat the skin evenly.
Place the duck on a rack over a tray and refrigerate uncovered for 12 to 24 hours, until the skin looks dry and slightly tight. This drying step matters. It is the difference between promising crisp skin and actually having some.
Remove the duck from the refrigerator 30 minutes before roasting. Heat the oven to 190 C.
Put the duck breast side up on a rack set over a roasting pan. Add a little hot water to the pan to prevent smoking. Roast for 45 minutes.
Carefully turn the duck over and roast for 20 minutes more. Turn it breast side up again and roast for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the skin is deep golden brown and crisp and the juices run mostly clear.
Let the duck rest for 15 minutes before carving. Slice the skin and meat thinly.
Serve with warm Mandarin pancakes, cucumber, scallions, and sweet bean sauce or hoisin sauce. To eat, spread a little sauce on a pancake, add duck, cucumber, and scallions, then roll and eat right away.

Cultural Context

Peking duck comes from Beijing, where it earned its place as one of China’s great banquet dishes. The magic is in the contrast: crisp, bronzed skin, tender meat and a tableside carving ritual that makes dinner feel like theatre with better snacks. A home kitchen won’t fully recreate the restaurant version, unless you’ve hidden a professional duck oven behind the toaster. Still, you can get close to the spirit of the dish. Dry the skin well, roast until deeply colored, then serve it with thin pancakes, scallions, cucumber and sweet bean sauce. Practical, recognizable and still worth showing off.

Fun Fact

In classic Beijing duck restaurants, the crispiest pieces of skin are sometimes served first, on their own, before the rest of the carved duck is wrapped in pancakes.

Cook’s Tip

Maltose is traditional and gives the skin a beautiful lacquer, but honey works well for home cooks. Sweet bean sauce is closer to classic service than hoisin, though either is commonly used at home. Restaurant Peking duck is usually far more specialized than a home oven version, so this recipe is best described as Peking-style rather than a strict restaurant copy.

Trivia

Peking duck became famous far beyond Beijing centuries ago and is now one of the Chinese dishes most closely associated with formal banquets and state dining.

About This Recipe

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Peking Duck

Instructions

Cultural Context

Fun Fact

Cook’s Tip

Trivia

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