Ready-made Peking duck for making Chinese pancakes
At FavorFlav, we’d preferably spend hours in the kitchen every weekend, making our own stock and letting sauces simmer for hours. But there’s one dish we much prefer to buy ready-made, and which makes a huge impression on everyone: Peking duck. To then fill Chinese pancakes with.
In my craving for Peking duck with Chinese pancakes, I thought of former FavorFlav colleague Emma, who once made duck herself and warned me about it. ‘It takes two days and involves a bicycle pump. The result is delicious, but I’m sure I’ll never attempt it again.’ The combination of a bicycle pump and Peking duck scared the living daylights out of me. I wanted to take a different approach.
Buying Peking duck
You can easily find Peking duck in the freezer section of the Asian supermarket, but I approached the idea of Peking duck with pancakes a little differently and ordered a Peking duck from Chinese fine-dining restaurant Zheng in The Hague. Via SOUS, that is—the same place where I previously ordered a kit to make the perfect Risotto alla Milanese.
How much does Peking duck cost?
I received a box containing everything needed to make Chinese pancakes with Peking duck yourself. The Zheng Iconic Peking Duck-box costs €89.92, and that amount easily feeds four people. In addition to the Zheng Peking duck, the box also contains ready-made noodles (for four people) and a pak choi and shiitake mushroom sauce. All the ingredients for the Chinese pancakes are included too: the Chinese pancakes themselves, julienned cucumber, julienned leek, julienned red bell pepper, cassava chips, Chinese kimchi salad, hoisin sauce, chilli mayonnaise and spicy peanuts.
Crispy skin
The duck had been pre-cooked and only needed to go into the oven for 20 minutes, followed by 10 minutes under the grill, to give it crispy skin; crispy skin is what it’s all about. One important tip right away: place a baking tray at the bottom of the oven with a dish in it to catch the rendered fat from the Peking duck. It’s delicious for frying potatoes in the next day!
Pulled Peking duck
Some people think the legs are best for the Chinese pancakes, while others prefer the breast. I think the combination of both, with the crispy skin, is unbeatable. That’s why I made ‘pulled Peking duck’: first cutting the duck open and then pulling the meat from all the different parts. Of course, you can also simply cut attractive strips from the breast (with crispy skin!) and fill your pancakes with them. In any case, don’t throw anything away and use the whole bird: you can make a delicious soup with the leftover duck (Zheng also supplies a little container of herbs for this, very handy!).
Filling Chinese pancakes
The pancakes only need to be steamed or warmed up in the microwave. Then spread them with hoisin sauce and chilli mayonnaise (also delicious with sweet bean sauce—this isn’t included, but it is highly recommended), and fill them with strips of duck, thinly sliced spring onion (or leek), julienned cucumber and crushed peanuts—and your Peking duck pancakes are ready!
Tip: let your dinner guests fill their own pancakes at the table. Just like tacos, it’s not only convivial—it also saves you some extra work. And as I said earlier: Peking duck with Chinese pancakes is a dish that impresses everyone!
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