Beijing Roast Duck (北京烤鸭)

What do you cook for Christmas dinner for two? We made Beijing Roast Duck.

1. One duck (5 lbs). Remove neck, gizzard etc stuffed in the belly. Peel excess fat under the skin.


2. Pour boiling water over the duck, both inside and out. Let it hang dry overnight. Dave asked me repeatedly if it's safe to do this (leave raw meat out in room temperature). I am glad to report that after eating the duck, we are still live and well :)


3. Brush honey and water mixture (1:1) over the duck. Cook in the oven (350 F) for 80 minutes. Take out the duck every 20 minutes to brush on more honey and water mixture.


Note: To make cleaning easier, we probably should put some foil down, so the honey and grease dripping wouldn't harden on the bottom of the pan.

4. Done.


5. The other side. 


6. Ready to eat.


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For pancake, we used store bought flour tortillas, steam for 5 minutes before serving. For dipping sauce, the paste I bought at the Chinese store is nothing but salty, so I mixed in Hoisin Sauce and water, steamed it for 30 minutes. When I tasted the first pancake loaded with duck, sliced cucumber, and sauce, tears almost came out of my eyes. It tasted so good, almost like the one at Beijing Quanjude's. Seriously!