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
Written cooking instructions as an idea can be observed back into ancient history, at least as far back into history as ancient Egypt, and possibly even further than that. However, in the main part, these old recipes were just basic hieroglyphic recipes for preparing food.
In an interesting twist, the oldest recipe in existence, according to food historians are some ancient tablets in the Sumerian language which describe the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making those who drank it feel exhilarated. Continuing our culinary historical journey, we have some recipe books which date from the 14th Century - a cookery book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another called `Curye on Inglish`. Surprisingly, these two books have no connection with the spicy food that appears on menues today, but rather accounts of the types of food on the menues of the rich and powerful of the time. Over the succeeding few hundred years, the upper-class families of Europe competed with each other to offer the most exotic meals, and as a consequence, cooks and their recipes were at a premium. Nevertheless, it was during the 1800s the formal cooking and recipe publications rose to prominence. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and Fannie Farmer in the US, spent years to collecting, testing, and writing down the recipes that were being prepared for the better households. When we get to the twentieth century, cooking publications were in great demand, mostly due to more people being able to read, people having more free time and having more money to spend. |
We hope you enjoy this Mock Peking Duck recipe.
