One more time, but this time just for me and the family.
After three days shooting wild game birds for The Butcher Shoppe (goose, duck, guinea fowl, pheasant, Cornish hen and quail), I hung one last Cantonese-style duck over the backyard fireplace and let it go. No talking, no recipe card on screen. Just the fire, the duck turning on the chain, and the fat dripping into a pan of potatoes for four hours.
How it was done:
* Night before: skin pricked, dry brined, cavity rubbed with sugar, five-spice, white pepper and salt, then scalded with boiling water and dried uncovered overnight.
* Morning: two thin coats of glaze (half corn syrup, half barley malt, thinned with hot water, red vinegar and Shaoxing), then dried for hours so the skin lacquers.
* Before hanging: tail end sewn shut, then a hoisin marinade (fermented bean paste, Shaoxing, ginger, scallion, star anise, garlic) poured into the cavity through the neck.
* No trussing needle? I taped butcher's twine to the end of a long Japanese chopstick and stitched the cavity closed like a wound. Worked perfectly.
* Hung by the neck on a hook and chain over embers, not flame, spun every 10 to 15 minutes. Pulled at 78°C (172°F) in the thigh and rested uncovered.
Served Peking style with thin pancakes, scallions and hoisin, plus a noodle soup made from the stock of all six shoot birds' carcasses, with bok choy.
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CHAPTERS
0:00 Cold open
0:17 The duck goes up over the fire
8:51 Tending the embers
15:58 Turning the duck
39:11 Feeding the fire
1:13:33 Stoking the coals
1:34:04 Dusk falls
2:22:37 Checking on the duck
2:37:41 The duck comes down
2:41:57 Just the fire
#roastduck #cantoneseroastduck #openfirecooking #woodfirecooking #cookingasmr #spinningduck #firesounds
