Peking Duck With Honey and Five-Spice Glaze

By Kay Chun

Peking Duck With Honey and Five-Spice Glaze
Romulo Yanes for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Vivian Lui.
Total Time
2 hours, plus drying
Rating
4(567)
Notes
Read community notes

Peking duck is one of the most famous and popular Chinese dishes. The traditional method is grand and laborious, requiring three days of intense preparation. This recipe simplifies that method for a home version that comes pretty close to the original. For that coveted crisp, golden skin, all the excess fat is trimmed, and the skin is separated from the meat. The duck is then air-dried overnight and roasted vertically to ensure even cooking, while rendering out the fat. The crunchiest skin comes from the duck’s backside and legs, so carve them off first to maintain their crackly texture. A simple honey and five-spice glaze creates a beautiful mahogany lacquer on the finished duck.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

    For the Duck

    • 3tablespoons mild honey, such as clover, acacia or orange blossom
    • 2tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
    • 1teaspoon turbinado or light brown sugar
    • 1teaspoon five-spice powder
    • 1(5- to 6-pound) Peking or Long Island duck
    • 3teaspoons kosher salt
    • ½teaspoon black pepper
    • 1(24-ounce) beer can or other aluminum can, emptied and filled halfway with water
    • ½cup hoisin sauce
    • 1teaspoon toasted sesame oil

    For Serving

    • 8Chinese wheat wrappers, or 8-inch store-bought flour tortillas, warmed
    • 4scallions, cut into 3-inch pieces and thinly sliced lengthwise
    • 2Kirby or Persian cucumbers, cut into 3-inch-long matchsticks
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine honey, soy sauce, sugar and ½ teaspoon five-spice powder in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    In a large saucepan, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Meanwhile, remove giblets and neck from duck cavity and discard (or reserve for another use). Cut off excess fat from cavity and neck area, then cut off tail. (This helps balance the duck vertically over the beer can.)

  3. Step 3

    Using your fingers, carefully separate the skin from the breast meat through the bottom of the breasts and work your fingers upward to separate the skin from the meat (be careful not to tear skin). Next, separate the skin from the backbone through the neck and working your way down until you reach the legs. (Scissors are helpful, but be careful to avoid piercing the skin.) Transfer duck to a rack set in the sink.

  4. Step 4

    Using a ladle or measuring cup, pour half of the boiling water evenly over top of the duck. Flip duck and pour the remaining water evenly all over second side. Tilt duck to drain all water from the cavity, then pat dry with paper towels.

  5. Step 5

    In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ teaspoon five-spice powder with 1 teaspoon salt, the black pepper and 1 tablespoon of the glaze. Rub the mixture inside the cavity. Stand duck vertically by inserting beer can into cavity and place in a roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet.

  6. Step 6

    Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining glaze all over the duck and sprinkle evenly with remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Place duck in the refrigerator, uncovered, until the skin feels dry and leathery, 24 hours.

  7. Step 7

    Heat oven to 450 degrees with rack in bottom third of oven. Remove duck from refrigerator, and add 1½ cups water to the pan. Wrap wing tips and tips of drumsticks with foil to prevent burning, then loosely tent duck with foil. Roast for 15 minutes. Decrease temperature to 350 degrees and roast, tented with foil, until skin is mahogany and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes more, adding more water to the pan if needed.

  8. Step 8

    Leaving duck on the can, transfer duck vertically to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes. Carve the crispy skin from the back and legs of the duck, and slice into strips.

  9. Step 9

    Carefully remove duck from the beer can and return to cutting board. Carve off the breasts and legs; thinly slice the breasts and shred dark meat.

  10. Step 10

    Carefully strain pan juices into a small bowl and pour off all the fat. In another small bowl, whisk together the hoisin, sesame oil and up to ¼ cup of the pan juices to form sauce.

  11. Step 11

    To serve, spread 1 tablespoon prepared sauce on each tortilla. Top each with some scallions, cucumbers, duck meat and crispy skin. Roll up and enjoy warm.

Tip
  • The glaze can be made a day ahead and stored at room temperature.

Ratings

4 out of 5
567 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Rob in DC

An alternative which i learned from a Chinese chef is to submerge the duck in boiling water for 30 seconds, before letting it air for a day. I also would use this recipe as simply a way to prepare duck -- a skips the tortillas/pancakes, etc. .

Michele

@Jon The boiling water renders fat, opens up the pores of the skin and, because it cooks it a little bit, causes it to tighten. The skin will absorb the glaze better and become more crackly. (Side note - I know this because kosher chickens frequently need to be further de-feathered. Pouring boiling water over the chicken loosens the quills by opening the pores.)

Ian

The ingredient list calls for Peking duck but they mean Pekin duck, as in the breed of duck. I thought for a minute they wanted me to go to chinatown and buy a pre-lacquered duck!

Larry Chan

I agree with "Lizzy" re: tortillas description. The plating of the duck is not authentic. This is not how real Peking Duck is served. The skin is served separately from the meat and arranged on a platter with scallions and prawn chips, with side dishes of hoisin sauce. Serve with mu shu pancakes (mandarin) or steamed buns (cantonese) The scallions are not Julienned, bulbous part is cut and "bloomed" in cold water. Duck meat is served later with "longevity" noodles. Old school rules.

Dora

The steamed buns in the Momofuku cookbook are fantastic! https://food52.com/recipes/28063-momofuku-s-pork-buns

Tyler

Delicious! But please note: step 3 makes it sound like it will only take a few minutes to separate the skin from the meat. It took me roughly 1.5 hours. Maybe I was missing some technique or something but yeah, be prepared for that. It was very humbling. Still worth it though.

Ling

Answer to the skin question: no, you don’t need to separate the skin from all parts - just the breast and back. Mods: I had trouble balancing the duck so just used a roasting rack. Took the duck out 2 hours before cooking since that works quite re the Nosrat buttermilk chick recipe. Roasted for 30 mins at 350, flipped, another 30, then another 30 at 250 (1.5 hrs). Broiled for a few mins. No tenting. Low and slow did the trick to avoid that slimy texture others complained about.

Cheryl

Will this recipe work with chicken?

BLC

I've wanted to make this for awhile, but kept putting it off as it seemed complicated. Finally made it for Christmas dinner for two, and it was quite a bit easier than anticipated. Well worth the effort. Delicious.

Jon

What is the purpose of the boiling water “bath” before painting the duck with the glaze?

Julia

Maltose syrup!

Lizzy

Chinese tortillas??? They are normally called mu shu pancakes or mu shu wrappers. Even the instructions in the recipe link often refer to them as wrappers.

Christine

Read step 2.

R. Craton

During the drying period, everytime we opened the fridge, we were startled to see the bird standing there--it's a weird visual. Handling the bird on the beer can was especially precarious during and after cooking. I'm surprised there isn't more cautionary instruction in the recipe. Having said that, it was delicious. Make the Chinese Wheat Wrappers and skip the tortillas. They were surprisingly easy and worth it.

Eric Yaillen

Agave nectar/syrup

Barbara in Springs

If you have a gas grill why not rotisserie the duck? I've done that a few times and it is yummy.

CB in NY

To anyone confused about the beer can logistics, google "beer can chicken", a outdoor bbq standard, to see how it works. With a duck a larger beer can (16 or 24 oz) or any larger can for that matter will be a bit sturdier. ( The best is a large baked bean can which has a larger base and is long enough to keep the duck solidly upright.) For chickens a little liquid in the can helps keep the breast moist during grilling.

Ralph Protsik

I'm confused. Recipe says, "Stand duck vertically by inserting beer can into cavity." So can is INSIDE the duck, right? Then it says, "Carefully remove duck from the beer can." Is the duck inside the can or the can inside the duck? And do you really roast the duck in a vertical position -- "Stand duck vertically by inserting beer can into cavity and place in a roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet." Help!!

ross

Made this on New Year’s Day and it was pretty terrible. The glaze never really adhered to the skin and left little flavor. Not sure cooking it tented with foil is the move as that created the opposite of crispy skin. Dark meat didn’t ‘pull apart’ as we were hoping and the whole thing was quite dry. Followed the recipe exactly, which I rarely do.

DRB

Used this as a prep recipe then cooked in the smoker with cherry wood. Delicious.

Christine Anne Mountcastle

I do like Peking Duck very much, but this recipe requires too much time and effort for me. I once prepared my own, quicker similar version of Peking/Orange Duck with orange marmalade,(That I had on hand.) for my children at Thanksgiving.

Luis

For step 7: From fridge to oven without tempering? Doesn’t work well with chicken! Any advice ?

Luis

When the bird comes out of the fridge to be roasted, should one not wait till it comes to room temp before going into the oven? That makes a big difference.

Stu

I've seen recipes that call for using a tire pump or electric air compressor to separate the skin from the meat. I'm wondering what surgical technique would be required to prepare the duck for this procedure. Does one have to sew up one end of the body and pump air into the other end?

jenni

I used two smaller ducks, Lake Brome ducks, as that is what’s available to me and just made a bit more glaze. They came out lovely. I would like to try a Pekin duck soon. As per another comment, I roasted on a roasting rack- way easier to handle.

Trina

Sorry. I am not quite familiar with English Recipe. Is there anyone who would like to let me know what does "YIELD" here mean? Thank you in advance.

Stu

Yield refers to the approximate number of people the recipe will serve.

Connie

Just had this for dinner today. My husband and I love Peking duck and this rivalled anything we've had from Hong Kong to the top Chinese restaurants in Vegas. The tortillas were easy to make and excellent. HUGE SUCCESS! and not too hard to do. Thanks for the recipe, it's the first time I've tried to make it.

Richmond

Should have used convection for at least the last 30 mins. Difficult to crisp the skin evenly with foil tenting.

Steel

Scrub duck with kosher salt before quick boiling makes skin very smooth

Justine

How you proceed if you were going to do this with a duck breast or duck legs instead of a whole duck?

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