Chinese crispy duck - need the pancakes

craig777

Instead of going out for a Chinese meal this weekend, I'm going to make Chinese Crispy duck at home. I've done it quite a few times with excellent results, so I don't need advice on that...

...but I do need advice on where to buy the pancakes from. I can't seem to find them anywhere. I've looked in my local Sainsburys and Morrisons and had no luck, even though I'm sure I've purchased them before from those places.

Do Asda/Tesco/Somerfield/Aldi/Lidl sell them?

Pink.

Hi craig,

Your best bet is a chinese supermarket if you have one locally. Failing that you might get some ideas on this thread: Chinese pancakes

Pink

benny1981

I've made them a few times, beginning with the time I was having people for dinner and 45 mins before they were due to arrive I rrealised I had forgotten to buy any - AND it was 6.45 on a SUNDAY NIGHT!!!:eek:

So I found a recipe in an old Ken Hom book.

They are a little tricky to get the hang of but easy once you've had the mistakes.

You MUST put in very hot water
Mix until 'velvety' smooth
Flour the rolling surface VERY well

225g plain flour
175 ml very hot water
2 tbsp Sesame Oil )or if you haven't got in any other oil will do but seasame is much more authentic)


Sift the flour into a bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in 175ml boiling water.
Mix well to form a dough, add a wee bit of cold water if it seems dry. Knead the dough in the bowl until it feels smooth, a bit like pasta making consistancy.
Roll the dough into a long sausage,then cut into 16 pieces all the same size roughly 25g each.
Roll each piece into a small ball. Take 2 balls, flatten slightly, dip one side of one ball in sesame oil and place the oiled side on top of the other ball. Roll out to form a thin 'double' pancake, about 20cm in diameter. Repeat with the remaining balls to form 8 'double' pancakes.
Heat the frying pan until hot, then fry the pancakes for about 45 secs on each side until very lightly coloured, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. As When theyve cooled peel the pancakes apart (very gently - I messed up on this a few times) to separate the layers. Keep them covered with a damp tea towel to prevent them drying out

HTH if you can't find any in a supermarket

HelenKA_2

Maybe your local chinese would be happy for you to buy them from them?

orangemoose88

I don't suppose you're willing to share your recipe for the crispy duck? I've always wanted to make this myself, but not known where to begin!

zippychick

kamcauliffe wrote: »

I don't suppose you're willing to share your recipe for the crispy duck? I've always wanted to make this myself, but not known where to begin!

yes, my mouths watering at the thought! I never see duck in supermarkets. DO butchers do it? Im in belfast if it matters lol

craig777

It's not a particularly moneysaving recipe if you don't already have all the ingredients in your cupboard but here's the basics of what I do. I do change it around a bit depending on what I've got in my cupboards.

I usually use duck leg portions when I do crispy duck, which are readily available in supermarkets.

Put however many duck leg portions you require into a bowl. Then you need to prepare a marinade. Which consists of Chinese Shaoxing rice wine (you could get away with dry sherry, Shaoxing rice wine is about £5/6 a bottle) soy sauce, sliced onions and garlic, a few cloves (the spice), a few turns of the pepper mill.

Mix all the duck and marinade together and leave covered in fridge overnight or for at least 3 to 4 hours.

Then take the marinated duck portions and steam them for 2 hours. Take duck out of steamer and allow to go cold and dry the duck portions off with plenty of paper towel, they need to be as dry as possible before the next stage which involves hot oil.

Deep fry them in hot oil until golden brown and crispy, usually takes about 4-5 minutes at most - you could do this with a couple of inches of oil in a wok or in a deep fat fryer if you wish.

Use some paper towel to pat off any excess oil and shred up the meat with a knife and fork. Serve with the usual pancakes, spring onions, cucumber and hoi sin/plum sauce.

BTW, whole ducks are on offer in Sainsburys for £7 at the moment. I don't think you'd get a quarter of duck for that in a takeaway or restaurant, so not bad if you think about it that way.

lynzpower

you can definately buy the pancakes in the chilled aisle of waitrose

Pink.

zippychick wrote: »

yes, my mouths watering at the thought! I never see duck in supermarkets. DO butchers do it? Im in belfast if it matters lol

Hi zippychick,

Whole ducks and duck portions (legs and breasts) are available in tesco, asda and sainsburys in NI. Usually in the aisle near the fresh chicken.

Pink

baby_fuzz

if you are lazy, like me, you could get the duck all done and ready to go in the oven from the chinese supermarket. I'm not sure, but they may even have them in larger british supermarkets.:D

Matilda33

I made Nigellas crispy duck recently and it was superb.
Use a whole duck and sit on a rack in the oven for 4.5 hours at 170c and a further 1/2 hour at 220c.
The skin was crisp and the meat tender. I buy the pancakes frozen from a Chinese supermarket.
Bought some hoisin sauce but that wasn't so good so next time I'm going to make some plum sauce.