One of the most delicious and popular dishesChinese cuisine is considered to be a Peking duck. It is not surprising that this gastronomic masterpiece delight gourmets all over the world! Although the traditional cooking recipe is considered quite complicated, modern housewives can successfully master this culinary delicacy without leaving home.

Recipe history and methods of preparation

Duck in Beijing is famous for its marinade,therefore it is necessary to be reserved by time, as all process of preparation will occupy about 2 days. Beijin kaoya - so in the local language sounds "Peking duck", which is prepared according to the tradition since 1330, when the rules of the Yuan dynasty. It was at that time that a dietician and a connoisseur of medicine, Hu Sikhui, compiled and published a recipe in his work "The Essential Principles of Food and Drink." In addition, this person was responsible for the diet of the emperor himself! From that moment the best chefs served the most fatty and tender ducks to the ruler's table. The ancient version of the duck cooking in Beijing has undergone a slight change, but to this day it exists. There are three types of dishes, and they differ only in the way they are fried.

The duck is hung and fried over a firewood outfitfruit trees (peach, dates, pears). The finished bird produces a shiny red crust that crunches, and the meat becomes tender and has a stunning aroma.

The duck is baked in a special oven with a special temperature regime: a very high degree is gradually lowered. Due to this, a crispy roasted crust turns out, and the meat becomes juicy.

The bird is pierced with a spit or a large fork, and then roasted over the divorced fire. This method is called chashao, which in translation means jerky.

The first and the third options, can afford only traditional expensive Chinese restaurants, but the second one is suitable for modern food establishments and for cooking dishes at home.

Preliminary preparation

Choosing the perfect duck Of course, for the ChineseThe search for the perfect bird is a real ceremony! There is even a specially bred breed of ducks, intended solely for the preparation of this dish. If you do not go into such extremes, then you need to observe only some important recommendations. It is best to take a young, but fairly large and fleshy bird weighing more than 2 kg. It is desirable that it was fresh and homely. But if you buy a frozen duck, it's necessary to defrost it beforehand in a sparing mode. First in the refrigerator for a day or two, and then at room temperature for about 10 hours. And in any case do not use for this purpose microwave. Since such a method necessarily adversely affects the taste of the finished product. Preparing for preparatory actions, it is necessary to make sure that there are no unnecessary hairs on the carcass, and all excess ones can be removed with a sharp knife, walking on the skin, or simply plucking. Then you need to thoroughly wash the duck under a stream of non-corrosive water. Then the excess fat is removed and the smallest phalanx of the wings are cut off. After this, the bird is suspended and thoroughly treated with boiling water. For hanging use a hook or hand scales (they have both a hook and a handle). After all the manipulations, the duck is carefully wiped off and briefly left to dry. Ingredients and pickling The list of ingredients for marinade according to custom should not be changed or replaced by alternatives, the correct flavor of the dish is guaranteed only by the following ingredients:

• young fat fleshy duck - carcass weighing 2-3 kg;
• wine "Jerez" - 2 tablespoons;
• liquid honey - 4 tablespoons;
• sesame oil - 1 tablespoon;
• classic soy sauce without additives - 5 tablespoons;
• ginger dry ground or fresh grated root - 1 tablespoon;
• black pepper fresh grind - 1 tablespoon;
• salt.

Marinating the Peking duck will last longerday, so it's best to do this process from the very morning. Consistency and patience are important here. This procedure will make the meat soft, juicy, with a unique aroma. First of all, the dried carcass is poured over with sherry: from the outside and from the inside. Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes, then carefully rubbed with sea or ordinary rock salt. To do this, the carcass is placed on a glass, jar or bottle and placed vertically on the tray. In this position, it is held for 12 hours. The liquid that will drain from the bird is periodically drained off. After a lapse of 12 hours, the duck is coated with half a serving of honey (2 tablespoons), placed in a cool place and left there for another 12 hours.

Roasting in the oven: tender meat and crispy crust

After the specified time (most likely, in the morningThe next day) the duck will marinate and prepare for immediate frying. To do this, the oven warms up to 190 ° C, and the bird itself is laid out on the following structure: water is poured into the baking tray, a grate is placed on top, on which a duck is laid up, which is covered with foil. And the foil needs to close not only the duck, but the entire grate. The baking time is 70 minutes. When the Peking duck was fried, the second stage of its preparation begins - the creation of a crisp crust. For this, the glaze is prepared: in a sufficiently deep container, mix half (2.5 tablespoons) of soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and black pepper. You can use a blender. The duck gets from the oven, is freed from the foil and the bottom baking tray. By means of a brush it is smeared with the received mix and put back in an oven on the greatest possible temperature - 250-2600С. The crust is formed within 25 minutes. However, it is necessary to monitor the process and prevent burning of the dish. If necessary, you can reduce the temperature by increasing the duration of frying.

The final stage

At this time, the remainder of the soy sauce andhoney prepares seasoning for meat. These components are mixed and spread thickly on all sides on the toasted duck (when 25 minutes elapse, it needs to be obtained). In the oven, you need to turn on the grill mode and make the final baking of the crust until it is thick and golden. This takes 10 minutes. After the end of cooking, the duck is not taken out immediately, but after 10-15 minutes. Then cut into small pieces and served on the table. In restaurants in China, the choice of snacks offered to the main course will be quite extensive. Usually it is flat cakes, Chinese cabbage soup, young onion stalks and various sauces. Peking duck is served laid out on a large tray, which is decorated with herbs and flowers carved from various vegetables (carrots, daikon, beets). On the second plate laid rice cakes, sliced ​​cucumbers and green onions. To maintain the tradition, it is enough to cook egg pancakes or serve the usual lavash to pieces of meat. But it is not necessary to turn your house into an elite restaurant with a large variety of dishes. Peking duck in itself will take the royal place on any table and rightfully become one of the favorite delicacies.

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