Spicy air-fried peking duck recipe

This delicious recipe is ideal to serve at Lunar New Year celebrations

spicy peking duck in air fryer
This crispy, spicy duck is perfect served with hoisin sauce, pancakes and spring onions
(Image credit: Maldon Salt)

Peking duck is a popular Chinese dish bursting with flavour, which will typically be eaten at Lunar New Year celebrations. But for those who are worried about the meticulous approach often given to this dish, Maldon Salt has devised a recipe that can be prepared using the humble air-fryer, meaning the spicy duck will still be the star of the show, but with less preparation time.


Ingredients:

  • 150ml Shaoxing wine
  • 120ml soy sauce
  • 100g soft brown sugar
  • 1 star anise
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 tbsp Chinese five spice
  • 2 tsp Maldon Chilli Sea Salt
  • 4 spring onions, cut into quarters
  • thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced
  • 1 lemongrass stalk, bashed
  • 1 tbsp hoisin sauce, plus extra to serve
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • 2 duck legs
  • 2 boneless duck breasts


To serve:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • pinch of Maldon Sea Salt
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 3 carrots, julienned
  • 16 Chinese pancakes
  • 1 bunch of spring onions, julienned
  • 1 cucumber, julienned
  • hoisin sauce
  • sesame seeds


Method:

  • To a large pan, add the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, soft brown sugar, spices, Maldon Chilli Sea Salt, spring onions, ginger, lemongrass, hoisin sauce and chicken stock. Bring it up to a simmer and then add the duck legs and breasts. Continue to simmer gently for 1 hour 30 minutes.
  • After this time, remove the duck from the pan and pat dry using kitchen paper. Preheat the air fryer to 200°C. Place the duck into the basket and cook for 10-15 minutes so the skin becomes really crisp and caramelised.
  • While the duck is crisping up, make the pickled carrots. Mix the rice vinegar, Maldon Sea Salt and caster sugar together in a small bowl and add the julienned carrot. Toss it through and set aside.
  • When the duck is cooked, remove it from the air fryer. Slice the duck breast and shred the duck leg meat, then place onto a serving platter. Warm through the Chinese pancakes and then serve alongside the crispy duck and pickled carrots with the spring onions, cucumber, hoisin sauce and sesame seeds. Let everyone tuck in and create their own pancakes.

Rebekah Evans joined The Week as newsletter editor in 2023 and has written on subjects ranging from Ukraine and Afghanistan to fast fashion and "brotox". She started her career at Reach plc, where she cut her teeth on news, before pivoting into personal finance at the height of the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis. Social affairs is another of her passions, and she has interviewed people from across the world and from all walks of life. Rebekah completed an NCTJ with the Press Association and has written for publications including The Guardian, The Week magazine, the Press Association and local newspapers.