Red Cooked Duck With Tangerine Peel Recipes

CHINATOWN STEAMED AND ROASTED DUCK

Steps:

• Duck is notoriously a fatty bird, to diminish the fat and produce a crispy skin, begin by trimming the excess fat from the neck and body. Rinse the duck, inside and out, and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Combine the Chinese five-spice, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture all over the duck, inside and out. Salt and five-spice powder makes a fragrant dry marinade, which draws some of the moisture from the duck so that the spices penetrate. Stuff the duck cavity with the aromatics: the ginger, garlic, green onions, and tangerine peel. Fold the wing tips back under the duck and tie the legs together with kitchen string. Poke the duck breast a few times, piercing the skin.
• Place a roasting pan on the stovetop over 2 burners and fill with 2-inches of water, turn the heat to medium. Set a V-rack insert inside the pan and lay the duck on the rack, breast-side up. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Steam the duck for 45 minutes, checking the water level periodically. Steaming the duck first melts away some of the fat and shrinks the skin.
• In a small saucepan combine the vinegar, honey, and soy sauce over low heat. Cook and stir for 5 minutes until thick. The duck will be lacquered with the sweet glaze, which caramelizes during roasting, making the skin crisp and brown.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Take the foil off the duck, remove the rack with the duck, and pour out the water and all the fat that has rendered out (this is great to use in other dishes like fried rice.) Put the rack with the duck back inside the roasting pan. Baste the duck with the vinegar mixture, until all the skin is completely coated in the glaze. Stick the whole thing in the oven. Roast the duck for 1 hour, basting periodically with any remaining glaze to set in a deep mahogany color. Tent the breast with some foil if it gets too dark. The legs will wiggle easily when it's done. Carve and serve.

RED-COOKED DUCK

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Cut away and discard the peripheral fat and skin from the duck. That is to say, the fat from the cavity, the excess skin around the neck and cavity opening and so on.
• Brush the duck all over with one tablespoon of the dark soy sauce. Place on a rack, breast side up, and roast for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine in a kettle the remaining dark soy sauce, the light soy sauce, cold water, shaoxing or dry Sherry, rock sugar, ginger, scallions, star anise and tangerine or orange peel. Set aside.
• Remove the duck from the roasting pan and add it, breast side down, to the sauce. Bring the sauce to the boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer 30 minutes.
• Turn the duck in the sauce. Cover and return to the boil. Let simmer 30 minutes. The duck may be eaten at this point, hot or cold. If you are using it to make the many-flavor duck salad, see the recipe.

RED-COOKED FISH WITH TANGERINE PEEL

Steps:

• Soak the tangerine or citrus peel for 20 minutes in warm water or until it is soft. Rinse under running water, squeeze out any excess liquid, finely chop, and set aside.
• Make three or four slashes on each side of the fish to help it cook faster and allow the flavors to permeate. Rub the fish on both sides with the salt. Evenly coat each side of the fish with the cornstarch.
• Heat a wok or deep saute pan until it is hot. Add the oil, and when it is hot, deep-fry the fish on each side for 5 to 8 minutes until it is brown and crispy. (If the head or tail is not submerged in the oil, regularly ladle some of the oil over the exposed parts.) Remove the fish, and drain on paper towels.
• Pour off most of the oil, leaving 2 tablespoons, and reheat the wok. Add the chopped tangerine peel, garlic, ginger, and scallions and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Put in the rest of the ingredients. Return the fish to the wok, spooning the ingredients over the top of the fish. Cover the wok, and cook over low heat for 8 minutes. When the fish is cooked, carefully remove it to a serving platter, and serve at once.

RED-COOKED DUCK WITH TANGERINE PEEL

Steps:

• 1. Soak tangerine peel. 2. Wipe duck with a damp cloth and chop, bones and all, in 2-inch sections. Meanwhile bring water to a boil in a heavy pan. 3. Add duck and soaked tangerine peel. Bring to a boil again, then simmer, covered, 1 hour. Discard tangerine peel. 4. Meanwhile slice mushrooms then add, along with soy sauce, salt and pepper. Simmer, covered, 20 minutes more. 5. Shred smoked ham. Serve duck hot, garnished with ham. The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.