Name: Peking duck
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 50 min
Total time: 2 h 10 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1.6-1.8kg duck fresh or thawed thoroughly if frozen; juice of 1 lemon; 3 tbsp clear honey; 3 tbsp dark soy sauce; 150ml Shaohsing rice wine or dry Sherry; 20 shop-bought Chinese pancakes; spring onions sliced into matchsticks; hoisin sauce

1.6-1.8kg duck
fresh or thawed thoroughly if frozen

For the honey syrup mixture

juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp clear honey
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
150ml Shaohsing rice wine
or dry Sherry

To serve

20 shop-bought Chinese pancakes
spring onions
sliced into matchsticks
hoisin sauce

Method

step 1
Place all the honey syrup ingredients in a large pan with 1.2 litres water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 20 mins.
step 2
Meanwhile, rinse the duck well, blot it completely dry with kitchen paper, then put it on a rack in a roasting tin. Using a ladle, pour the syrup over the duck several times until the skin is completely coated on all sides. Leave the duck to dry out, uncovered, in the fridge overnight. When the duck has dried, the skin should feel like parchment paper.
step 3
Heat oven to 240C/220C fan/gas 9. Sit the duck breast-side up on the rack in the roasting tin. Add 150ml water to the tin to prevent the fat from spattering, then roast in the oven for 15 mins. Reduce the heat to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and continue to roast for 1 hr 10 mins.
step 4
Remove the duck from the oven and let it sit for at least 10 mins before you carve it. Using a cleaver or a sharp knife, cut the skin and meat into pieces and arrange them on a warm serving platter. Or, if you prefer, shred the meat using two forks.
step 5
Serve at once with the pancakes, spring onions and a bowl of hoisin sauce.