1 1/2 lb fatty, boneless pork
MARINADE
2 tbsp sherry
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 green onion, chopped fine
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp five spice powder
BATTER
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup beer (flat is ok)
Directions
Cut the pork into strips roughly 1/4 inch by three inches. Combine
marinade ingredients, and add pork. Marinate overnight.
Meanwhile, make the batter by mixing the flour and cornstarch. Beat
the egg well, and add to mixture, add the beer, and mix well. Make
this ahead of time and refrigerate a few hours-it can be made at the
same time as the marinade, and can also sit overnight.
When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, take pork out of
marinade, and bake in a shalow pan for about an hour, turning
occasionally and stirring to separate the strips if necessary. Remove
from oven, cool to room temp., and blot off excess fat with a paper
towel.
In a wok, heavy pan, or electric skillet, heat 2 cups (at least) of
peanut oil to 375 degrees.
Give the batter a stir, and coat the pork strips with it. Deep fry
them, about 1/4 at a time, in the hot oil for about 30 seconds,
poking them a little bit to separate the strips. Allow the oil to
come back up to temperature in between batches. Drain the fried
strips well. You can do this before you're ready to serve, and reheat
if necessary.
Serve with a little hoisin sauce on the side.
The traditional way to serve real Peking duck is folded up in a peking
pancake with a little hoisin sauce and some shredded scallion. IMHO,
these pancakes are just too much trouble to make. If I feel like it,
I make mock Peking pancakes to go with the mock Peking duck. You do
it like this:
Get a pack of flour tortillas-the smaller "soft taco" or "fajita"
size. Brush one side of each very lightly with sesame oil. Put the
oiled sides together, so you've got a bunch of double tortillas,
stuck together with sesame oil in the middle.
On an ungreased pan, cook each tortilla "sandwich" briefly on both
sides (like you would heat a regular tortilla) for 10 seconds or so,
until they "puff up" slightly.
Take the tortillas, put them in one stack. Wrap in aluminum foil and
steam in a steamer for about 15 minutes. Separate them into
individual tortillas. You now have mock peking pancakes.
To serve them with the "duck," take a "pancake," smear with a little
hoisin sauce in the center. Take a little "duck", put in center, and
sprinkle with a little shredded scallion to taste. Fold up like a
miniture burrito, and eat.
Bill Shoemaker
Servings: 1 servings
Mock Peking Duck Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Duck; Meat; Poultry
The History of Recipes
Transcribed cooking instructions as an idea can be traced way back into the distant past, in truth as far into history as early Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. Interesting though that is, in the main part, these early recipes were just simple pictorial recipes for food preparation.
In an interesting twist, the most ancient recipe in existence, according to academics are some tablets in ancient Sumerian which describe the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made drinkers feel `wonderful`. During the time of the Romans a man called Apicius assembled a collection of scripts which described recipes enjoyed by his fellow Romans. In his works, Apicius describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into hors d`oeuvre, entrees and desserts, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Aspicius tells us how the Roman cooks made use of many different aromatic flavors, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens such as thyme, mint and parsley. Moving our culinary historical trip onwards, there are two interesting recipe books which appeared in the fourteenth century : a cookery book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another entitled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are somewhat misleading tho`, these are nothing to do with the indian curry that is served today, but instead accounts of the types of food served to the rich and wealthy people of that time. In the 15th century, the Crusaders brought back many new foods and herbs from Arab countries, including spices like parsley, basil and rosemary. These new foods and tastes prompted an outbreak in books on cookery, some of which are kept safe in private cookery archives. When we get to the 1900s, recipe books are increasing in popularity mostly as a result of more people being able to read, people having increased free time and having more disposable income. The arrival of TV brought us celebrity chefs and the recipe books that accompanied them. And that brings us to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, permitting us all to search through massive numbers of recipes like those on sites such as this. |
We hope you enjoy this Mock Peking Duck recipe.
