RECIPE - Plum Glazed Duck Wraps

Disclaimer - I was sent the Rhapsodie de Fruits by St Dalfour to test, but the recipe and ingredients are all my own.

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

 for marinade:

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

 for the sauce:

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)

 

 You will also need a frying pan, skillet or heavy roasting pan that can go in the oven.

 Prepare the duck in advance – dry the skin and make several diagonal slashes through to the meat. Rub with five spice powder, making sure it penetrates the slashes. then do the same with the honey and soy sauce. Place in a non metallic dish and tuck in the star anise under and around the duck pieces. Cover and leave to marinate for at least an hour, up to 8 hours if possible.  

 

 

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!