Step-by-step Peking duck

Step 1: Trim away excess fat from duck cavity. Dry the inside with paper towel. Mix seasoning rub ingredients together and sprinkle inside cavity.

Rest duck, breast-side down at room temperature for 1 hour.

Bring vinegar and water to the boil. Sit duck on a heatresistent glass jar and stand jar in a large roasting pan or wok.

Pull neck flap over, to cover neck cavity and prevent water from entering.

Place roasting pan/wok over a low heat. Ladle boiling vinegar water over duck skin. The skin must form goose bumps, as this helps to open pores and drain fat.

Step 2. Dry duck with paper towel. Leave it sitting on the jar for proper air circulation. If you have a fan, place it in front of duck to dry for 45 minutes. Or refrigerate, uncovered, overnight.

Step 3. Preheat oven to 180°C. Adjust oven rack to lowest setting. Half fill glass jar with boiling water and re-position duck onto it. The water in the jar steams the duck from the inside, keeping breast meat tender.

Roast duck upright for 1 hour. Start basting skin with honey and soy sauce every 15 minutes until the total cooking time is 1 hour and 30 minutes. Switch oven off. Allow duck to stand for 10 minutes in oven with door half open.

Neatly trim salad onions and brush-cut the green ends. Soak in iced water for 10 minutes to curl leaves. Dry well and push small bundles through sliced chilli (make at least 12 bundles).

Step 4. Separate skin from meat using a sharp knife. Slice away any excess fat from skin.

Cut skin into rectangles about 3cm x 5cm in size. Shred meat into small pieces.

Season meat to taste. Serve duck, crispy skin, spring onion bundles and remaining sauce rolled in pancakes.

Tip: To make five spice powder, mix 1 tsp (5ml) ground star anise, ginger and fennel together.  Add 1/4  tsp (1ml) each Sichuan pepper and cloves.

When roasting, sit the duck on a recycled pasta sauce jar or a jam jar that’s heat resistent.

This recipe is sponsored by Pick n Pay and was created by Fresh Living magazine.