My Mom's Pi Jiu Ya (Beer-Braised Duck)

I honestly thought I had already shared this recipe with you all, but when I looked it up recently I realized I had just posted a teaser post.  How naughty of me!

This is one of those recipes that is way more simple to make than you would think considering how delicious the end result it.  And since it's made on the stovetop, it would make a great turkey substitute if you're thinking of going for an Asian-inspired Thanksgiving meal.  I would serve it with sticky rice (instead of stuffing), Taiwanese rice cake with meat sauce (instead of mashed potatoes and gravy), steamed scallion buns or scallion pancakes (instead of dinner rolls), and some stir-fried fresh green beans (instead of a green bean casserole).  Is anyone else hungry yet?

My Mom's Pi Jiu Ya (Beer-Braised Duck)
serves 6

4-5 lb. duck (thawed, if previously frozen)
1 can of beer (I've made it with cheap and less cheap beer, and I couldn't taste a difference, although I'm not the most discerning of beer drinkers)
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1 star anise

Add all the ingredients to a pot large enough to hold the duck.  Fill the empty beer can with water and add to the pot.

Heat on high until boiling, then reduce heat to medium-low and cover.

Turn the duck over every half hour until done (2 to 2 1/2 hours).  Cook uncovered the last half hour so the duck get s a nice brown, shiny coat.

Serve with the braising sauce over steamed rice.  Save the duck fat for duck fat potatoes!

Next:  Cheese Fondue Stuffed Roasted Pumpkin
Previously:  My Mom's Taiwanese Sticky Rice
Last year:  Grapefruit Pie
Four years ago:  Nanaimo Bars

Peking Duck Pizza

California Pizza Kitchen used to serve a Peking Duck pizza which I loved, but I haven't seen it on the menu in years.  One day I had some leftover duck meat and a ball of pizza dough, so I decided to try to recreate it as best I could.  I didn't have any fried wonton strips to top the pizza with, so I omitted that, but otherwise, I think it turned out pretty good!

 
Peking Duck Pizza
makes 1 individual size pizza

1/2 recipe pizza dough
2 teaspoons duck fat or olive oil
3 tablespoons cooked duck meat, shredded
3 shiitake mushrooms, sliced into thin strips 
1 scallion, thinly sliced
Hoisin sauce
1 small handful shredded mozzarella cheese

Set the oven to 500°F or as hot as it will go and let it heat for at least a half an hour before making the pizza. If you have a pizza stone, put it in the lower-middle part of the oven now.

On a 12" square piece of parchment paper, stretch the dough out until it's about 1/4 of an inch thick or less. 

Spoon a few teaspoons of duck fat or olive oil into the center of the pizza and use the back of a spoon to spread it out to the edges.

 
Top with the duck meat, shiitake mushrooms, and scallions.

 
Drizzle hoisin sauce on top and top with the mozzarella.

Using a bread peel or the backside of a baking sheet (I used a flexible cutting board), slide your pizza (still on the parchment) onto the baking stone in the oven. If you don't have a baking stone, bake the pizza right on the baking sheet.

Bake for about 5 minutes and then rotate the pizza. Bake for another 3 to 5 minutes until the crust is golden-brown and the cheese looks toasty.

 
Remove the pizza from oven and let it cool on a wire rack for about five minutes before slicing and serving.

If you don't have any duck meat, you could probably substitute with some shredded chicken; dark meat would get you closer to the texture of duck than white meat would.  To me, Peking duck is really a hoisin sauce delivery method, so as long as you have that, you'll probably be fine.  =)

Next:  Happiness Cake
Previously:  Kale and Sweet Potato Soup
Three years ago:  Bacon Fat Caramels
Four years ago:  Potato Leek Soup with Bacon

Duchikey (or Simplified Turducken)

The idea of making a turducken is kind of frightening:  deboning three different birds and then stuffing one inside the other inside the other and then roasting it all low and long enough so that it's cooked all the way through but not dry or burnt on the outside.  Crazy.

But when Serious Eats posted a way to make a simplified turducken a couple of years ago by using cuts from all three birds instead of the whole birds, I knew I had to try it.  It's a pounded duck breast covered with a layer of stuffing covered with chicken thighs, another layer of stuffing, and then turkey cutlets.  Thus, a duchikey.  The Serious Eats post included a recipe for stuffing, but I decided to further simplify it by just using Stove Top stuffing, a personal guilty pleasure.

 
Duchikey (based on the recipe from Serious Eats)
makes 4 servings

1 box Stove Top stuffing, prepared
1 large duck breast (about 8 oz.)
1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (2-3)
1 turkey cutlet (about 1/4 lb.)
1 tablespoon oil

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Lay duck breast skin-side down on cutting board with long edge perpendicular to edge of table. Using sharp chef's knife or boning knife, make one thin horizontal slit from left side of breast to right side, about 1/4 inch from the top, leaving 1/8th-inch connected on right side. Open like book. Repeat, making another cut from right to left and open duck breast like business letter. Place duck breast between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap and pound gently until roughly 1/3 of an inch thick. Refrigerate until needed.
 
Pound chicken thighs between two sheets of wax paper with meat pounder or rolling pin until each one is even 1/3-inch thickness. Refrigerate until needed. Repeat with turkey cutlet.

Lay opened duck breast skin side down on cutting board. Season with salt and pepper. Spread 3-4 tablespoons stuffing onto duck meat. Use back of spoon or offset spatula to smooth stuffing entirely over top of breast.

 
Lay flattened chicken thighs on top of duck. Season with salt and pepper. Chicken layer should be the same size or slightly smaller than the duck layer. Trim chicken if necessary. Spread 3-4 tablespoons stuffing over chicken, smoothing with spatula or back of spoon.

 
Lay turkey cutlet on chicken layer, trimming if necessary to fit over chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Spread 1 tablespoon stuffing over turkey. Place remaining stuffing in 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

Roll duchikey jelly-roll style from left to right. Cut five 12-inch pieces of butcher's twine and lay parallel to each other in 1-inch intervals. Place duchikey on top and twine working from outside towards center to secure. Trim off excess twine.

 
Season duchikey with salt and pepper.  Heat oil over medium-high heat in heavy 12-inch oven-proof cast iron or stainless steel skillet until shimmering. Add duchikey, duck skin side down, and brown on all sides, approximately 8 minutes total. Transfer duchikey and stuffing to oven and roast until instant read thermometer inserted into center of duchikey registers 150°F, about 30 minutes. Remove duchikey to cutting board, tent lightly with aluminum foil and let rest at least 10 minutes before slicing.

 
I found that the original recipe called for too much turkey, so I halved the amount.  I liked that it was so much easier to make than a turducken, and it's perfect if you're just feeding a small crowd for Thanksgiving.  Moving the duck to the outside and browning it first gives you a really nice, crispy skin, too, without making the rest of the meat dry.

Next:  Grapefruit Pie
Previously:  Cereal Milk Ice Cream and Pie
Four years ago:  Homemade Crystallized Ginger

Mama Huang's Secret Beer Duck Recipe

My mom made me promise not to post her recipe for her beer duck, but I figure it won't hurt to show you some pictures, in the tradition of the Feng Family Secret Peking Duck Recipe. It's a really easy recipe that only uses 5 ingredients (6, if you count water) and produces a really tender, super-flavorful duck. Best of all, you can harvest the duck fat at the end and the resulting drippings can totally be re-used for other recipes like xiao long bao. I'm thinking of trying to make Taiwanese meat stew from the drippings I have sitting in my fridge right now....

Mis en place (can you figure out the 5 ingredients?)


15 minutes in

30 minutes in


1 hour in


1 hour 30 minutes in (heehee, I think it's funny how the duck looks like it's embarrassed and trying to cover its private parts here)


2 hours in

Not the prettiest thing in the world at the end because the meat is literally falling off the bones, but so, so yummy. And look at all that delicious duck fat floating on top! I can't wait to try this cold fat method of making French fries with it!

P.S. I have been known to share secret duck recipes with people who have gotten me really, really good Red Sox tickets. I'm talking about Opening-Day-against-the-Yankees good. Just so you know. ;)

ETA:  No more teasing; here's the full recipe!

Next:  Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes
Previously:  Guinness Milk Chocolate Ice Cream

The Feng Family Secret Peking Duck Recipe

So the story is, Jeff won Ilene's family over by making Peking duck for them before asking her parents' permission for her hand in marriage. And I happened to have a duck defrosting in the fridge, so I asked him if I could get his recipe. I'd perused many on-line versions, and they all seemed very complicated. Some had you drying the duck for hours, pouring boiling water over the skin and then drying it again before glazing it and drying it even more, and some even included using a bicycle pump to inflate the space between the duck skin and meat. Thankfully, the recipe that Jeff gave me was a lot simpler. The only stipulation: that I not post it because it's been handed down through his family over the years. I did get permission to post pictures of it, though, so here you go.

Day 1

Day 3

Stuffed

Day 3 + 1 hour

Day 3 + 2 hours

Day 3 + 2 hours and 10 minutes

Homemade Chinese pancakes

Duck meat, skin, scallions, and Hoisin sauce on pancake

Wrapped

Jenny and Matt came over to taste test, and there were comments like, "I just don't want this to ever stop; it's so good."

So Ilene, you don't have to marry Jeff just to get the recipe; I can give it to you if you want it. ;)

Everyone else, I'll be accepting (and reserving the right to decline) marriage proposals. ^_^

More pictures here.