Aromatic Crispy Duck At Home

Hello !

I wasn't feeling very well for the last few days (which may explain the lack of post this week). Let's call it an indigestion of stress. Petit Gâteau is taking a lot of my energy, in a good way (new recipes tried, some with more success than others - meeting with new interesting people - lots of professional phone calls), but sometimes in a bad way too.
You may have seen it on the Facebook Page or here, on the left side of the blog : the next Mercy & Pearl's Market has been cancelled and there will be no more market until Easter (1rst April). I was feeling a bit blue about this but well, it may be a sign that I need to find another market venue for Petit Gâteau. Throw a few orders over this stress and a Baking Club to organise for Sunday and you'll end up with a rather busy girl!

Today I'd like to share with you a recipe that I hope you'll find quite appropriate for this time of the year : Aromatic Crispy Duck.

Chinese New Year's Eve is just around the corner (22/01) and this is a fantastic treat to share with your friends and family (and maybe with some Mei kuei lu chiew). 
2012 will be the year of the Dragon, symbol of the chinese emperor. People born under the Dragon sign are said to be more eccentric, innovative, enterprising, passionate, successful and self confident. Well, I'd like to think that Petit Gâteau will share some of the Dragon characteristics!

This recipe is really dead simple but required to prep the duck at least 12hours in advance.


(Pardon me for the bad pictures but they are from a time when this blog didn't even existed and I didn't know I would need them someday.)

So here it is : Aromatic Crispy Duck At Home.

Ingredients : 

• 1 duck / 1 canard
• 2 tsp light muscovado sugar / 2 cc de sucre roux
• 4 Tbsp soy sauce / 4 CS de sauce soja
• 1/2 cucumber / 1/2 concombre
• some spring onions / quelques oignons nouveaux
• one paquet of chinese pancakes/ un paquet de pancakes chinois (en épicerie asiatique)
• hoisin sauce / sauce hoisin

First, let's treat our duck with a spa session!

1. Take a big dish, deep enough to put the duck inside and cover it with boiling water.
2. After a few minutes, take the duck out of its bath and  dry it with a clean tea towel.

Now, the spa session is finished, let's hang the duck! 
You have to hang the duck (or let it rest on the grid of your roasting dish) for 12hours, in a dry & cool place, to achieve the really crispy skin.

After this resting time, just mix together the sugar with the soy sauce and brush gently the duck with it.
Let it dry for 10 minutes while preheating your oven at 230°.

Cook on the grid of your roasting pan for 1 hour, without opening the oven door.
When the duck is cooked, slice very thinly the cucumber and the spring onions (julienne).
Shred the meat with two forks and serve on a plate with the vegetables, the hoisin sauce and the pancakes. And don't forget to serve the crispy skin too.

Bon appétit and happy Dragon Year!

 Commençons avec une petite séance Spa pour notre canard!

1. Prenez un grand plat assez profond pour accueillir notre canard et couvrez-le d'eau bouillante.
2. Après quelques minutes, sortez le canard de son bain et séchez-le avec un torchon propre.

Maintenant que la séance de Spa est terminée, il faut pendre le canard! 

Non, vraiment, il faut le pendre. Ou tout au moins le laisser sécher pendant 12 heures minimum sur la grille d'un plat à rôti, dans un endroit frais et sec. C'est ce qui permettra d'obtenir une peau bien croustillante.

Quand le canard a séché, il suffit de mélanger le sucre avec la sauce soja et d'enduire le canard avec cette mixture à l'aide d'un pinceau. Laissez sécher une dizaine de minutes pendant que vous préchauffez votre four à 230°.

Il ne reste plus qu'à cuire le canard, toujours sur grille dans un plat à rôti, pendant une heure, sans ouvrir la porte du four.

Quand le canard est cuit, découpez en julienne le concombre et les oignons nouveaux. 

Déchiquetez la viande à l'aide de deux fourchettes et servez sur un plat, avec les légumes, les pancakes et la sauce hoisin. N'oubliez pas de servir la peau.

Bon appétit et bonne année du Dragon!