How to Cook Duck Pancakes with Chili-Plum Sauce

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients needed to make Duck Pancakes with Chili-Plum Sauce:

• One (2 lb) duck, back bone removed and flattened

For the sauce:

• 1 lb 2 oz plums, pitted and coarsely chopped
• 2 red chillies, stemmed and finely chopped
• ½ tsp Sichuan peppercorns
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 3 oz caster sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 5 fl oz rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pancakes:

• 6 fl oz boiling water
• 8 zo strong white flour

For serving:

• 2 red chilies, deseeded and finely shredded
• 4 spring onions, finely shredded

Cooking instructions for Duck Pancakes with Chili-Plum Sauce:

• Warm up your oven to 410 degrees F.
• To prepare the duck, place the duck onto a roasting pan, with its skin side facing up and poke the skin at several places with a fork.
• Bring a kettle of water to a boil and pour it over the duck.
• Let it soak for a minute and drain the water out.
• Blot the duck dry by dabbing with paper towels and rub the seasonings all over the skin of this bird.
• Place the pan into the hot oven and roast for an hour or until it crisps up and turn golden brown.
• Take it out of the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.
• Pull it into fine shreds with the help of a couple of forks and set aside.
• To make the sauce, drizzle the olive oil in a pan, equipped with a lid, and throw in the spring onions.
• Sprinkle the chopped chilies on top and stir fry for a couple of minutes or until they soften.
• Stir in the spices and continue to sauté for another couple of minutes while stirring from time to time.
• Toss the plums into it and add a splash of vinegar over them.
• Sprinkle the sugar on top, stir and bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat.
• Lower the heat and bring it down to a simmer.
• Place the lid on top and continue to simmer for 5 minutes or until the plums turn soft; remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.
• Get rid of the cinnamon stick and tip the sauce into a food processor to pulse into a somewhat puree.
• Get rid of any chunks by passing it through a fine mesh sieve, into a bowl and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
• To make the pancakes, blend its ingredients together to form a smooth dough.
• Place it onto a floured surface and massage it briefly for 2-3 minutes, until it becomes smoother.
• Split the dough into 16 parts and roll each of them into a small ball.
• Flatten out each dough ball into a very thin disc and set them aside.
• Heat up a large skillet and place a thin pancake on it to toast for a minute or two before flipping it over to cook the other side similarly until lightly golden brown in colour.
• To serve, spread a pancake onto a serving plate and arrange some amount of shredded duck along its middle.
• Fold one edge of the pancake over the filling and assemble rest of the pancakes in a similar fashion.
• Serve the pancakes alongside chili-plum sauce.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons