Duck Pancakes

This has got to be one of my all-time favourite meals. There’s something incredibly warming about tailoring your own morsel of goodness – sweet, soft, crunchy, salty, aromatic flavours and textures – all rolled into a bite-sized nourishing snack. Mmmm … Duck pancakes.

Just about every foodie has their favourite and most frequented Chinese barbeque shop. Mine happens to be Emperor’s Garden on Thomas St. in Chinatown. I reckon I’ve tried all but the intestine. No judgement. Just not for me.

Making these little duck treasures is seriously simple. Well, this version anyway. If I’ve broken any traditions, don’t get too upset. I’m welcome to take any suggestions on board.
Once you’ve aquired your duck there really are only a few more ingredients you need. Cucumber, green onion, pancakes, hoi sin sauce and chilli flakes.
Most of the work involved is preparation. The rest is simply eating.

let’s get chopping

1. Top and tail the cucumber and then cut it lengthways.
2. Deseed with a teaspoon and julienne into 8cm lengths. Set aside
3. Julienne the green onion in the same way. Set aside
4. Put a good dollop of hoi sin into a small bowl and dilute with a little water.
5. Scatter over some chilli flakes and mix . Set aside.
6. There’s a bit of an art to preparing the duck so you can be as meticulous as you like. One way of doing it is removing the skin, placing it onto a tray and crisping it up in the oven. The flesh is cut into strips and then, once ready, the crispy skin is cut up as well.
   If you can’t be bothered with this extra step just remove the flesh and skin and slice it up into bite-sized lengths.

onto the home stretch

1. Grab a bamboo steamer and saucepan with a bit of water in it.
2. Now’s time to steam the pancakes.
3. Once simmering, place a layer of pancakes into the steamer, cover, and steam for 30 seconds or so. Finito.
4. Keep the pancakes in the steamer (off the water of course) to keep them warm while you’re eating.
5. Enjoy.

Tagged as: Chinese, Recipes