Published September 1, 1993.
The traditional Peking duck recipe takes time and intricate preparation. For our quicker and easier Peking duck recipe, we used modern tools—an electric fan and a metal hanger—to cut the drying time from three days to several hours. To get the skin as crisp as possible, we also used modern tool—a basketball pump or straw—to pump air into the bird, which lifted the skin from the meat. To pull the fat right out of the bird, we filled a large wok or stockpot with boiling water and vinegar, then ladled the hot liquid over the duck's skin to open the pores, releasing the fat.
Traditional recipes call for a duck with both the head and the feet still attached. Whole birds are available at Asian butcher shops in most major cities. This recipe can also be prepared using a supermarket duck. To make two ducks, double the amount of marinade, cilantro, and scallions, but keep the ingredients for the wok bath the same.
Dear Friend,
These days, it’s pretty easy to get free recipes on the Internet. I’m sure a search for “roast chicken recipe” will turn up thousands and thousands. But, as with so much on the web, you should tread lightly if you don’t know the source.
In America’s Test Kitchen, our motto is, “Recipes that Work,” and our mission is to be your trusted source for recipes that work every time you use them. Our test cooks spend their days obsessively testing recipes until they offer consistently great results. As we like to say here, “We make the mistakes so you don’t have to.”
CooksIllustrated.com is the only place you can find not only 20 years' worth of our foolproof recipes, but also objective ratings of cookware, and blind taste tests for hundreds of everyday supermarket ingredients (hey, without the proper ingredients and equipment you can still run into problems — no matter how good the recipe).
Let me make a simple, no-nonsense offer. Try out our website FREE for a 14-Day, No-Hassle Trial Offer. I’m pretty confident that CooksIllustrated.com will quickly become an invaluable resource for everything from quick, weeknight suppers to huge, holiday feasts for family and friends.
Thanks for your consideration,
Christopher Kimball
Founder and Publisher
