Beer Braised Duck (啤酒鴨)

This is a nice duck dish, a whole duck nonetheless, which might be a candidate for a holiday main dish. I read about this dish in one of my favorite novels on the net. The simplicity in its making is quite surprising and delightful, esp. when compared with how a Peking Duck or a no-frills roasted duck is cooked. There is no guess work, and no uncertainty involved in cooking this dish, which is a dream come true for Papa, a mere mortal in the cooking world. The beer-factor makes it more intriguing, but the beer serves some real purposes. It tenderizes the duck meat and makes the meat very flavorful. This recipe combines and modifies two online recipes, an excellent video and a great blog entry (both in Chinese).

I. Ingredients

1. Equipment- Need a large pot or wok that could allow a whole duck to be placed inside when the lid is tightly closed. I use a Belgique Hard-Anodized 7.5-Qt. Pot. A 14-inch flat bottom wok should also work. A nicely fit lid is a must for cooking this dish.
2. Whole Duck- A 4-to-6-pound frozen whole duck can be obtained from almost any market (call to check first). Defrost completely (36-48 hours in the fridge, or 4-6 hours when submerged in cold water by changing water every 30 minutes, see product package for more info). Empty all contents in the cavity of the duck, rinse thoroughly inside and out. Cut off extra skin from the neck area, and the end (~1.5”) from the tail. Truss the wings with butcher string (or kitchen twine) to prevent them from flapping around (no need to truss the legs).
3. 2 cans of beer- any 12-oz (360-cc) beer will do.
4. Ancillary ingredients- green onion (1-2 stalks, rinse and tie into a knot), ginger (4-6 thick slices), brown sugar (1/4 cup), soy sauce (1 cup), salt (1/2 tsp per pound of duck, up to 2tsp max). 
5. One cup of rice cooking wine, or shaoxing cooking wine, if you plan to make duck soup later 

II. Method

1. Immerse a whole duck in water in a large pot (see Ingredients-1), add the green onions and ginger slices from Ingredients-4 into the pot, bring the pot to boil, and reduce the heat to simmer for 30 minutes. Close the lid tightly. Turn the duck every 10 minutes (let the water flow into the inside chamber of the duck). Note- This step renders most, if not all, of the duck fat under its skin. Add one cup of rice cooking wine (or shaoxing cooking wine), if you plan to make duck soup later.
2. Take the duck out, rinse out any debris from the duck, inside and out. Let the duck sit on a cutting board. Pour the fluid out of the pot carefully into a smaller soup pot, to save for a duck soup, if desired (see the last step below). Set the green onions and ginger slices aside. Rinse the pot to rid of all the debris. Note- Remove the debris from the surface of the leftover fluid as well, if making a soup later.
3. Put all the rest of the Ancillary Ingredients (see Ingredients-4) into the pot. Turn on medium heat. Stir and mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Place the green onions and ginger slices back into the pot (or use fresh green onions and ginger slices).
4. Place the duck inside the pot. Pour in the beer slowly. Bring the pot to boil at medium heat, and let simmer for 60 minutes with the lid tightly closed. Turn the duck every 15 minutes (to cook and color both sides evenly). Note- I turn the duck with two strong angled-wood-spatulas, as the pot is filled with steaming-hot beer sauce and the duck is a bit unwieldy from its weight and size. 
5. At the end of 60 minutes, take the duck out, place it on a large plate, ladle the sauce on top, and serve. Note- It's quite reasonable to carve the duck into 2 pieces of leg and thigh, and 2 pieces of duck breasts, and then slice the duck meat delicately at an angle, garnish and serve. Search "How to Carve a Duck" to see how a duck can be neatly cut.  After carving, what's left of the duck can go into a pot with the fluid drained from Step 2, and be made into a tasty duck soup (season to taste with salt).