Four Happiness Duck
A traditional classic of Shandong (Lu) cuisine. The duck is cooked until tender and the flavor is rich and mellow, making it especially well suited to older diners.
Ingredients
Duckling (split along the backbone, keeping the breast attached; chop through the large bones with the knife heel and remove the duck tongue from inside the beak)
750 g
Pork (cut into 1.5 cm cubes)
30 g
Scallion (cut into segments)
10 g
Ginger (cut into chunks)
10 g
Sichuan peppercorns
5 g
Star anise
5 g
Cinnamon bark
5 g
Sugar
20 g
Fine salt
5 g
MSG
1 g
Shaoxing wine
21 g
Wet cornstarch
15 g
Sesame oil
100 g
Peanut oil (heated to about 225°C / 90% hot)
1500 g
Soy sauce (for marinating)
to taste
Instructions
1
Marinating
Split the cleaned duckling along the backbone, keeping the breast attached. Use the heel of the knife to chop through the large bones and remove the duck tongue from inside the beak. Cut the pork into 1.5 cm cubes. Marinate the duck and pork together with soy sauce for 10 minutes, then remove and drain.
2
Deep-frying
Heat the oil to about 225°C (90% hot) and deep-fry the duck and pork cubes until they turn brownish-red, then remove and drain off the oil.
3
Braising
Transfer everything to a clay pot. Place the pork, scallion segments, ginger chunks, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and cinnamon bark on top. Add sugar, fine salt, MSG, and Shaoxing wine to the broth, stir well, and pour into the clay pot. Simmer over low heat for 2 hours until tender, then remove.
4
Plating
Arrange the duck skin-side up on a large oval plate and place the pork cubes around the duck.
5
Saucing
Pour the braising liquid into a pan and bring to a boil. Adjust the seasoning and thicken with wet cornstarch to a glossy sauce. Drizzle with sesame oil over the duck to finish.
