Peking Duck

Directions

1. 1
   A day in advance, clean duck inside and out; dry thoroughly.
2. 2
   Season inside with salt.
3. 3
   Tie together stem ends of 2 green onions; place inside duck cavity with gingeroot.
4. 4
   Bring edges of tail opening together and stitch with a length of fine wire.
5. 5
   Attach another wire to neck as a handle.
6. 6
   Mix 1 qt.
7. 7
   water with honey in large wok or small turkey roasting pan, bring to boil.
8. 8
   When boiling, stir in cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water.
9. 9
   Continue to stir to consistency of a thin stream.
10. 10
    Lower heat.
11. 11
    Holding duck by neck wire, dip into honey mixture 3-4 times to coat on all sides.
12. 12
    Remove duck, suspend over container in cool place.
13. 13
    Set an electric fan towards duck to help dry the skin.
14. 14
    Let duck drip-dry overnight.
15. 15
    The next day, preheat oven to 450F.
16. 16
    Place duck breast side up on flat rack in roasting pan.
17. 17
    Roast 30 minutes.
18. 18
    Reduce heat to 300F, turn duck over.
19. 19
    Roast 30 more minutes.
20. 20
    Turn duck breast side up again and roast for final 30 minutes.
21. 21
    Remove biscuits from can, divide each biscuit in half.
22. 22
    Bring 2 inches water to boil in bottom of steamer.
23. 23
    Place biscuits in container above water; cover and steam 5 minutes.
24. 24
    Thinly slice stems of remaining 6 onions into 2-inch diagonal strips.
25. 25
    Divide sliced onion between 4 butter plates and place 1 tsp.
26. 26
    plum sauce on each plate.
27. 27
    Prepare duck for serving by cutting off drumsticks and wings; place on platter in position whole duck should be.
28. 28
    Carefully slice off all skin pieces of about 1 and 2 inches, lay them aside.
29. 29
    Slice same size pieces of meat from bone.
30. 30
    Place all carved meat on platter, cover with skin pieces on outside to make presentation look like a whole duck.
31. 31
    Eat by making sandwich of onion, plum sauce, duck meat and duck skin.