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Crispy Peking Style Duck, Plum Sauce & Pancakes

3h 15m Total time
1h Prep
6 Serves
hard
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About

Duck and pancakes is one of my husband’s favourite Chinese dishes but it comes with a hefty restaurant price tag.

While this recipe is a little fiddly and requires some planning, the ingredients won’t break the bank and once you’ve done it once, you’ll get into a nice easy rhythm with it.

This is my take on crispy Peking duck, a homemade plum sauce and homemade pancakes that don’t have the rubbery floury feel of the pre-packaged ones.

Method

  1. The evening or morning before cooking, place your duck on a rack and gently separate the skin from the meat by slowly sliding your hands in between the two and lifting up, being careful not the rip it.
  2. Place your rack in the sink and pour boiling water over the duck. You’ll see your skin noticeably puff up. This will help it go crispy.
  3. Rub the duck with your five spice, garlic and ginger and leave to marinate in the fridge until ready to cook.
  4. Preheat your oven to 170C. Make your glaze by combining the honey, hoisin and sesame oil in a bowl and brush over the duck.
  5. Place in the oven on a racked roasting pan, tented with foil. Slow cook for approximately 2-2.5 hrs, removing the foil and basting with your glaze towards the end to get a nice crispy, but not burnt, skin.
  6. Remove, let cool slightly and shred with two forks. The meat should fall away easily.
  7. While your duck is roasting, combine your sauce ingredients in a pot over a low-medium heat. Let simmer, stirring often, for approximately 30 minutes until it has come together and reduced to a nice sticky sauce.
  8. Strain into a bowl to remove the plum skins and get a nice smooth sauce.
  9. Combine your flour and boiling water in a bowl until there’s no dry flour left using a chopstick.
  10. When cool enough to handle, knead into a smooth soft dough. Form a ball in the bowl, brush the top with oil and cover with cling film. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
  11. Knead the dough again and divide into four pieces. Roll each piece out into cylinders and cut again into four pieces so you have 16 total.
  12. Flatten each piece into a round pancake shaped disk, and place on a damp cloth, brushing the top with oil. Place another disk on top of that, so you have stacks of two disks.
  13. Use a rolling pin to roll and flatten each two disk pancake. It helps to oil your surface and rolling pin to avoid sticking.
  14. Heat a large frying pan with oil to medium heat, place your disks in it and cover with a lid until you see small bubbles forming (approx 2 minutes). Flip and cook the other side for another approx 2 minutes.
  15. Remove to a plate and let cool, keeping them covered with a damp towel to avoid drying out. Repeat to cook all of your pancakes.
  16. Serve warm with your plum sauce, thinly sliced cucumber and spring onion. Enjoy!