Not Delia

Crispy Aromatic Duck

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Not Delia
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Crispy Aromatic Duck is a real British favourite. It was invented by the Chinese community in London’s Chinatown in the latter half of the 20th century and is a signature dish in many Chinese restaurants in the West.

It’s based on the original dish, Peking duck. Wikipedia has some good information about the history and the cooking process.

I have tried making CAD and it turned out OK, but it’s a bit of a faff and I’m not very keen on duck anyway. You’ve got to rub in a spice mix, let it stand for 24 hours, steam it for 2 hours and finally deep-fry it for about 15 minutes. The processes are straightforward enough but even a keen cook might baulk at the long preparation time.

Also duck can be quite expensive in Britain. Waitrose is currently selling a ready-meal of half a Crispy Aromatic Duck for £8.49, or fresh free range duck at £9.49 per kg (and Ken Hom’s CAD recipe suggests a 2 kg duck to serve 4-6 people, so that’s £18.98 before you start making the dish yourself).

Hmmm, time to cheat. I created a tasty Not Crispy Aromatic Duck…

Comments

2 responses to “Crispy Aromatic Duck”

  1. jake

    I very much agree. I like duck, I like pancakes, I like hoi sin sauce but I do not like the price of a 2kg duck and I haven’t got enough time to do the prep. Might as well get down to your nearest chinese takeway and risk the duck being replaced by dog. It still tastes nice and is a lot less time consuming. Yummy Yummy in my tummy x

  2. Not Delia

    Hi Jake, thanks for your comment. I took a wee bit of stick for suggesting making it with pork instead, but it’s a heck of a lot easier and is very tasty. CAD is very much a British/Chinese thing anyway, I’ve never seen it outside the UK.

    AFAIK, I’ve never had it with dog. 🙂

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