Crisp-Skinned Roast Duck with Mock Mandarin Pancakes
- Two 5-to 6-pound Long Island (Peking) ducks, thawed if frozen
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon rice
- Vinegar
- Accompaniments
- Scallion brushes
- Hoisin sauce
- Mock Mandarin pancakes
- 24 or 48 thin scallions
- Trim roots and green parts from scallions, leaving about 2 1/2 inches of stalk. Fringe ends of scallions by cutting slits about 1/2 inch deep all around both ends of each stalk, leaving about 1 inch of solid scallion in center, and spread fringed ends gently. Put scallions in a bowl of ice and cold water. Chill scallions 2 hours, or until fringed ends have curled.
- Drain scallions well.
- Rinse ducks inside and out and pat dry.
- Remove excess fat from cavities and truss ducks.
- On a metal rack set in a large roasting pan arrange ducks, breast sides up and several inches apart.
- Let ducks dry, uncovered and chilled, 3 days.
- In a small bowl stir together boiling water, honey, and vinegar and cool to room temperature.
- Brush ducks with some honey mixture, keeping them chilled, and brush again every 20 minutes for 1 hour.
- Let ducks dry at room temperature 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Pierce skin of ducks all over with a fork to allow fat to drain and help skin become crisp.
- Roast ducks in middle of oven until mahogany brown and a meat thermometer inserted in fleshy part of a thigh registers 180 degrees, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Let ducks stand 10 minutes.
- Discard string and carefully pour out juices from cavities.
- Cut around entire breast of each duck with a sharp paring knife, and carefully peel off crisp skin in large pieces.
- Cut skin into 2 1/2- by 1-inch strips.
- Cut away and discard any fat on breast meat and remove breast meat from bone.
- Slice breast meat diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices and arrange on a platter with crisp skin.
- Remove legs from ducks and arrange on another platter.
- Duck meat may be reheated and skin recrisped in a 350 degree oven just until hot.
- To assemble pancakes: Using a scallion brush spread some hoisin sauce on a pancake (whole or half) and top with the scallion brush, some breast meat, and some crisp skin.
- Roll up pancake to enclose filling.
- Make more pancakes with remaining scallion brushes, hoisin sauce, breast meat, and crisp skin in same manner.
- Serve duck legs on the side.
- Mock Mandarin Pancakes: Twenty-four 6- to 8-inch flour tortillas 1/4 cup Asian sesame oil
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Brush one side of each tortilla with some oil and stack on a large sheet of foil.
- Wrap tortillas loosely in the foil and heat on middle rack of oven until warm, about 10 minutes.
- Serve pancakes whole or halved.
boiling water, honey, rice, vinegar, accompaniments, scallion, hoisin sauce, mandarin, thin scallions, roots, scallions
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/crisp-skinned-roast-duck-with-mock-mandarin-pancakes.html (may not work)