Crispy Duck
Fragrant, crispy, and tender — delicious yet never greasy. The main ingredient is actually stuffed duck, prepared as a deep-fried dish.
Ingredients
Fattened duck (plucked clean after slaughter, with innards, trachea, esophagus, crop, lungs, claws, half of the wings, and duck glands removed)
1
Vegetable oil (about 150g actually used)
1.5 kg
Scallions
40 g
Salt
15 g
Ginger
30 g
Cooking wine
40 g
Sichuan peppercorns
2 g
Cinnamon
3 g
Cloves
3 g
Cardamom
3 g
Star anise
3 g
Salt and pepper (served on the side)
a pinch
Instructions
1
Marinating
Open the cavity of the plucked fattened duck and remove the innards, trachea, esophagus, and crop; be sure to dig out the lungs. Chop off the claws and half of the wings, and remove the two oval-shaped duck glands on either side of the upper tail base (round nodules). Wash and drain. Rub salt all over the duck, including inside the cavity. Then pour the cooking wine over it, add the scallions, ginger, and the 5 spices (or five-spice powder), and marinate for 2 hours.
2
Steaming
Place the marinated duck on a steamer rack and steam over high heat for 2 hours. Once tender throughout, remove and let cool.
3
Deep-frying
Place the duck (cooled to lukewarm) into oil heated to about 70% of smoking temperature. Fry until the skin is crispy and golden brown and the meat is cooked through. Remove to a plate and drain off the oil. Surround with washed and sanitized lettuce leaves. Serve with salt and pepper on the side.
