This recipe is based on the concept of Peking style duck,
which is eaten with pancakes, cucumber, spring onions and hoi sin sauce, and
also on the very first Chinese duck dish I ever ate (in fact it was quite
possibly the first time I ever ate duck) in a Chinese restaurant in Kuala
Belait in Brunei, which was stir fried sliced duck
in plum sauce served garnished with sesame seeds and shredded lettuce. I’ve
taken elements of both dishes and combined them to make a tasty new dish which,
despite the length of the recipe, is very easy to prepare.
Most supermarkets sell small bottles of dark soy sauce now,
but if you can’t get it, use the “everyday” light version – the colour of the
duck and sauce won’t be as dark but the flavour will be the same.
Plum glazed duck wraps (serves 2)
2 duck breasts
½ teaspoon 5 spice powder
1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons Chinese dark soy sauce
a few star anise (broken pieces are fine)
to cook:
2 tablespoons St Dalfour Rhapsodie de Fruit Mirabelle Plum
2 tablespoons St Dalfour Rhapsodie de Fruit Mirabelle Plum
1 tablespoon Chinese dark soy sauce
to serve:
½ teaspoon sesame seeds
shredded lettuce, cucumber and spring onions
wraps, chappatis or Chinese duck pancakes (available in the
freezes at Chinese grocery stores)
Make your sauce by beating together the dark soy sauce and
Rhapsodie de Fruit. Divide between two small dishes.
Heat oven to 190C (fan 170) 375F, gas mark 5.
Place the duck breasts, skin side down, in the cold pan and
cook over moderate heat, turning once, for around 7 minutes until the fat
starts to run out and the skin is blackened – don’t be alarmed by how black they look, they aren’t burned - the soy sauce and
caramelising honey make them look so dark.
If there is a lot of fat running out, spoon it off to avoid
filling the oven with smoke, then place the pan, uncovered, in the oven with
the duck skin side up. After 5 minutes, remove from the oven and spread the
skin of each piece with 1 tablespoon of Rhapsodie de Fruit.
Return to the oven and cook until you reach your desired
doneness – if you like it pink, just 5 more minutes, but I always think duck
tastes nicer well-done so I gave it another 12 minutes.
Remove from the oven, slice and serve sprinkled with sesame
seeds, alongside the shredded lettuce, spring onion and cucumber.
Give each person their
plate of duck and salad, a bowl of sauce and their wraps/pancakes. To eat,
spread your wrap with some of the sauce, top with a mixture of the salad items
and some sliced duck, roll up and enjoy!
1 comment:
Okay, I'm getting really hungry now x
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