White-Cut Chicken
Poached chicken served cool with a ginger-scallion dip.
← Home · Beijing duck roast banquet celebration
Beijing Roast Duck
A whole Peking duck — inflated, glazed, air-dried for a day, then roasted in two stages — carved into 118 slices and eaten in pancakes with sweet bean sauce. Adapted for a home kitchen from the original ClouChef R&D report — 北京烤鸭, report 80.
Original poster image from clouchef.com (poster: 北京烤鸭_80.jpeg). This is the hero poster only, not a step-by-step photo set.
Prep: 24 hours (drying)Cook: 45 minutesTotal: 24 hours 45 minutesServings: 4–6Difficulty: HardRegion: BeijingFlavour: Crisp-skinned, rich, savoury
Why this works
The report treats roast duck as a sequence of preparations, not a single roast. Inflating the bird separates skin from flesh so the skin can crisp; brushing the maltose glaze three times, five minutes apart, builds the deep jujube-red colour; and a full day of air-drying at 15–20 °C and 40% humidity is what makes the skin shatter instead of going soft — short drying is the commonest home failure, and there is no oven trick that replaces it. Roasting itself is two-stage: twenty minutes at 220 °C to colour and blister the skin, then twenty-five at 180 °C so the fat renders through without burning. The accompaniments are treated with the same care — scallion blanched five seconds, cucumber three, pancakes steamed two minutes — because a cold or raw garnish next to hot duck breaks the dish. Carving 118 slices is the report's standard, not a target to hit at home, but the order matters: breast first, then legs.
ADVERTISEMENT — PLACEHOLDER
Ingredients
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Substitute / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peking duck, whole | 1 duck | 1 duck | About 3.5 jin (about 1.75 kg); a whole roasting duck from a butcher (adaptation for weight). |
| Maltose | 1.8 oz | 50 g | For the glaze; honey thinned with water is a substitute (adaptation). |
| White vinegar | 2.0 tbsp | 30 ml | For the glaze. |
| Cooking wine | 1.0 tbsp | 15 ml | For the glaze. |
| Salt | 0.2 oz | 5 g | For the glaze. |
| Sweet bean paste | 3.5 oz | 100 g | Tianmianjiang, served as-is. |
| Scallion segments | 1.8 oz | 50 g | Blanched 5 seconds, then iced. |
| Cucumber sticks | 2.8 oz | 80 g | Blanched 3 seconds, then iced. |
| Pancakes | 20 pieces | 20 pieces | Thin Mandarin pancakes, steamed 2 minutes. |
Equipment
- Oven with a rack
- Air pump or bicycle pump for inflating (adaptation per report method)
- Hook or rack for hanging the duck to dry
- Sharp carving knife — a dedicated duck knife is traditional but not required (adaptation)
- Pastry brush for the glaze
Steps
- Inflate and scald. Clean the duck. From the neck opening, pump in air until the bird puffs up and the skin separates from the flesh by about 1 cm, roughly 1.3 times its original volume. Ladle boiling water over the body 3–4 times until the skin tightens.
- Glaze. Dissolve the maltose, vinegar, cooking wine and salt in a bowl over hot water. Brush the duck evenly three times, waiting 5 minutes between coats.
- Air-dry. Hang the duck in a cool, ventilated place at 15–20 °C and about 40% humidity for 24 hours, within an hour either way. A fridge with a fan is a home adaptation — the report uses a drying cabinet.
- Roast in two stages. Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Roast for 20 minutes until the skin colours and blisters, then reduce to 180 °C and roast for 25 minutes more so the fat renders through. Rest for 5 minutes before carving.
- Prepare the accompaniments. Blanch the scallion segments for 5 seconds and the cucumber sticks for 3 seconds, plunging each into ice water at once and draining. Steam the pancakes for 2 minutes until their centres reach at least 70 °C.
- Carve and serve. Carve breast first, then legs, slicing skin with meat; the report's standard is 118 slices per duck. Arrange skin-side up in a fan, and serve with sweet bean paste, scallion, cucumber and hot pancakes. Serve while the skin is at least 65 °C and the pancakes at least 60 °C.
ADVERTISEMENT — PLACEHOLDER
Technique: Technique: dry skin, two heats
Crisp skin is made the day before, not in the oven: the duck must dry for 24 hours, and under-dried skin stays soft however hot the oven. In the oven, the two heats have separate jobs — 220 °C colours and blisters, 180 °C renders fat — and swapping their order or merging them into one temperature gives either pale, greasy skin or burnt skin over raw fat.
Variations
- No pump (adaptation): a bicycle pump with a clean nozzle works; without any pump, the skin still crisps but less evenly — extend the drying time slightly and watch the colour.
- Half duck (adaptation): halve all glaze and accompaniment quantities and roast a duck half, checking doneness by temperature rather than time.
Frequently asked questions
Why air-dry for a whole day?
Drying removes moisture from the skin, which is what lets it crisp and blister in the oven. Short drying gives soft, leathery skin.
Why two roasting temperatures?
High heat first colours and blisters the skin; lower heat then renders the fat through without burning.
Can I use honey instead of maltose?
Yes, thinned with a little water — the glaze will be slightly sweeter and darker, so watch the colour during the high-heat stage.
Storage
Best eaten fresh from the oven; crisp skin softens within the hour. Leftovers keep 1–2 days refrigerated; reheat meat until steaming hot throughout — the skin will not fully re-crisp, though a hot oven helps.
Beijing Roast Duck — Recipe Card
A whole Peking duck — inflated, glazed, air-dried for a day, then roasted in two stages — carved into 118 slices and eaten in pancakes with sweet bean sauce. Ad
Prep: 24 hours (drying)Cook: 45 minutesTotal: 24 hours 45 minutesServings: 4–6
Ingredients: 1 whole Peking duck (about 1.75 kg); 50 g maltose; 30 ml white vinegar; 15 ml cooking wine; 5 g salt; 100 g sweet bean paste; 50 g scallion; 80 g cucumber; 20 pancakes.
Steps: 1) Inflate duck until skin separates; scald 3–4 times. 2) Brush maltose glaze 3 times, 5 minutes apart. 3) Air-dry 24 hours at 15–20 °C, 40% humidity. 4) Roast 20 minutes at 220 °C, then 25 minutes at 180 °C; rest 5 minutes. 5) Blanch scallion 5 seconds, cucumber 3 seconds; steam pancakes 2 minutes. 6) Carve breast then legs; serve skin-side up with accompaniments.
ADVERTISEMENT — PLACEHOLDER
Related recipes
Char Siu
Cantonese barbecued pork with a sweet, caramelised edge.
Hong Shao Rou
Red-braised pork belly, sweet, savoury and meltingly tender.
Source note: ingredients, quantities and steps are adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report for 北京烤鸭 (data/reports/80.md). The report's pricing, margin and marketing sections are deliberately omitted here; no B2B cost is presented as a home-cook cost. Original poster image: clouchef.com (北京烤鸭_80.jpeg).