One of the world’s favorite Christmas movies is A Christmas Story. If you’re like many Americans, watching this classic (and many others) was a central part of your holiday celebrations. After all, the film is comedy gold, and fun for the whole family! You may remember the scene with the Peking duck. It was memorable and filled with Parker family banter, all surrounding the bird in question. That dish truly did look mouthwatering. But have you ever considered making your own Peking duck?
Thanks to an episode of popular YouTube series Binging with Babish, you can. The video was posted about a week ago, and has already gotten close to a million views — hopefully helping many people celebrate with their families, A Christmas Story style. The video opens up with a description of the Chinese five spice mixture that Babish will be using. It includes cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and Szechuan peppercorn. He pours out his freshly-ground spices into a pan, toasting them lightly to bring out the flavors.
After he has finished toasting the spices, he pours them into a spice grinder. He is also very careful to note that it was used for spices only, and never for coffee — coffee grounds could impact the flavor drastically. He grinds them up into a fine powder, and sets them aside for later use. The next step is to make the marinade for the cavity of the duck, which Babish notes is basically hoisin sauce. He mixes soy sauce, honey, freshly-grated ginger and garlic, rice vinegar, sesame seed oil, chili garlic sauce, peanut butter, the five-spice mixture, fresh black pepper, and brown sugar.
After mixing up this flavorful sauce, Babish pours about half of the mixture inside of his Peking duck. Next, he uses a bamboo skewer to “sew” the duck together, locking in the sauce and its array of flavors. In what Babish terms “the weirdest part of [his] day”, he used an air compressor to inflate the duck. This separates the skin and the meat, helping the fat to more easily render. After preparing the duck, Babish mixes a mixture of water, soy sauce, and spices to pour over the duck. After bringing it to a boil, he pours the mixture on the bird until the skin starts to turn a golden color. Babish also notes that it will tighten up considerably.
The next step is to let the duck sit in the refrigerator for one to three days. Babish notes that this will produce the best results, but also gives the chef in a hurry another option. He uses a hairdryer to dry the skin (and plucks some feathers the butcher missed). Finally, the bird is ready to go in the oven, where it will roast for about an hour-and-a-half. Next, Babish mixes up some mandarin-style pancake batter. He uses water and all-purpose flour to create a thick dough and rolls it up into a long tube. He cuts up this tube into 24 pieces and uses a rolling pin to flatten them out. He pairs up the pancakes, gives them a light basting of sesame seed oil, and places them together. He rolls them out again, creating 7 to 9-inch mandarin pancakes.
Babish mentions that, much like a tortilla, the pancakes can be toasted in a dry pan until they begin to form light brown spots. By the time he has completed the pancakes, the duck is then ready to come out. It comes out in a nice, brown color — though Babish notes the color would be better if the skin was allowed to fully dry — and he wastes no time carving up some slices. Babish shows the best method to eat the Peking duck, placing the duck meat, sliced cucumbers, and scallions into one of the pancakes. He then tops it with some leftover hoisin sauce, resulting in a savory, toasty meal with a definite Chinese vibe.
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