Ped Op Nam Pueng (Honey Roast Duck)

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Ped op nam pueng sits in the sweet-savoury corner of Thai-Chinese cooking — a whole duck steeped overnight in honey, soy, ginger and star anise, then roasted slowly until the fat melts away and the skin turns to lacquer. It appears on Thai menus as a special, often in the section next to the Peking duck it resembles.

The difference from Peking duck is the marinade: honey replaces the maltose glaze, and the duck is steeped in the seasoning rather than brushed with it, so the sweetness runs all the way through the meat. The result is less shatter-crisp and more deeply caramelised — closer to a Cantonese siu mei roast.

The Recipe (serves 4 · ~1 days (mostly resting))

Allergens: soy, gluten · Suitable for: dairy-free

For the marinade

The Method

1. Marinate overnight. Wash the duck and let it air-dry. Mix all the marinade ingredients, spoon a quarter inside the cavity, and sew or skewer it closed. Sit the duck in the remaining marinade and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, turning it a few times.
2. Dry. Lift the duck out, keep the marinade for the sauce, and hang or prop the duck so the skin dries for an hour or two.
3. Roast low, then high. Roast at 110°C for about 1.5 hours to render the fat under the skin. Raise the oven to 150–160°C and roast another 30–45 minutes until the skin is bronzed and crisp.
4. Sauce and serve. While the duck roasts, boil the reserved marinade with the juices, adjusting with soy or sugar, until it makes a rich glaze. Rest the duck briefly, then chop and serve with the sauce over rice, or sliced as a main with greens.

Low and slow, then hot

The recipe's two-stage roast does two jobs. The low stage (110°C) melts the fat under the skin and gently cooks the meat; the hot finish (150–160°C) crisps and colours the skin. Swap the order and you get either greasy skin or dry meat.

The overnight rule

Twenty-four hours in the marinade is the minimum the recipe asks for, and it is not padding. Honey and soy need that long to carry flavour past the skin into the breast. The marinade then becomes the sauce — boiled, reduced, and poured over the carved duck.

Serving

• Rice: Steamed jasmine rice and stir-fried greens
• Extra: The sauce doubles as a glaze for roast pork

Cook's Tips

• The low first stage is what makes the meat tender and the fat disappear; the high finish is what crisps the skin. Don't rush either.
• If your oven runs hot at 110°C, prop the door slightly or drop to 100°C — slow is safer than burned.
• Reserved marinade must be boiled before serving — it has sat with raw duck.

Variations

• Orange-sauce version. A Thai fusion version replaces part of the honey with orange juice and zest for a citrus glaze.
• Peking-style (ped pak king). Five-spice, maltose glaze and air-drying instead of the honey marinade — see our crispy aromatic duck recipe.

Sources

This recipe is translated from the following Thai-language sources. Where they disagree, we've said so.