Easy Roast Duck Breast with Pancakes Recipe - 簡單烤鴨和煎餅 (2024)

Another week has passed - time really flies and I was in an admittedly premature Chinese New Year mode when I styled today's photos, the fuchsia pink backdrop is my little nod to Chinese New Year :O. Well, festive occasions or not I do love roast duck and especially when wrapped in some pancakes with some scallion 'flowers'. This dish was inspired by the famous Peking Roast Duck but do note that this is my inspired version made at home that is rather different but still makes for a tasty and elegant meal for your family or guests. For most home cooks like yours truly, recreating an authentic Peking Duck at home is almost impossible - well firstly, the ducks are not roasted in regular ovens, they are supposed to be roasted over open flame lit with a special kind of wood that is also infused with fruits and some dates. For the duck to get that gorgeous crispy skin characteristic of a true Peking Duck, the ducks also have to be rotated and turned at precise times. Sounds a tad impossible to me for most home cooks - well at least to home cooks like me, so sometimes certain dishes should be left to the experts, I think.

Anyway, I merely roasted some duck breast today in a sweet and savoury hoisin sauce-based marinade and made some thin pancakes to go with the duck. The dish turned out very well and was very well received I must say so I'm quite sure you will like this dish. Using only duck breast also makes it easier as you don't have to carve anything (I'm really not that great with carving), and serving the duck with pancakes and the cute scallion flowers will be sure to impress your guests. This is also one of those Chinese dishes where guests get to be 'active' at the table and can wrap their own little pancake rolls. I have had Peking Duck at some restaurants where the servers will very conveniently wrap up the pancakes for you but for me, I think that takes out some of the fun, what do you think?

For pancakes: (Makes about 20 small pancakes)

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup (180 ml) water
1/4 cup (60 ml) milk
2 teaspoons sugar
Enough cooking oil

Method:

Sift flour and cornstarch into a large bowl. Whisk together eggs, milk, water and sugar together in a separate bowl. Make a well in center of flour mixture earlier and add in egg mixture gradually and beat well until mixed.

Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat, add about 2 tablespoons of the batter to form pancake. I used an egg ring to keep my pancakes in a perfect round shape but you don't have to of course. Cook for about 1 minute on each side or until golden. Remove from pan and place on serving dish. Continue until all the batter is used up.

For filling:

300g of duck breast meat (I prefer mine with the skin intact)
10 stalks green onions/ scallions
Additional hoi sin sauce for dipping

Marinade: (Mix the ingredients below and do a taste test - add more sugar if desired)

2 tablespoons hoi sin sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice Powder
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine

Method:

Marinade the duck breast in the marinade above for at least 30 minutes, preferably 2 hours or more (covered in fridge).

Pre-heat the oven to 200 C. Prepare the scallion 'brushes' by using a pair of scissors to snip lightly into each end of the scallions (like creating a 'cross' sign on the bottom of the scallion). Place scallions into iced water and keep in fridge for 15 minutes or until scallions are curled sufficiently.

Roast duck breast after oven is pre-heated for at least 15 minutes for about 25-30 minutes or until cooked. Allow to rest for about 15 minutes, slice thinly and place on serving platter.

Remove scallions from water. Serve together with duck, additional hoi sin sauce and pancakes. I wrapped some of the duck with the pancakes and tied each roll with a stalk of green onion but this is optional. Usually the guests will serve themselves by making the little pancake rolls at the table.