Name: Perfect match: Chinese roast duck with green onion pancakes
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 Chinese roast duck (see note); Hoisin and ginger dressing; 125 ml (½ cup) hoisin sauce; 1 tbsp lemon juice, or to taste; 2½ tsp finely grated ginger; 2 tsp sesame oil; Green onion pancakes; 220 ml milk; 1 egg; 2 tsp light soy sauce; 110 gm rice flour; 2 green onions, thinly sliced diagonally; 30 ml peanut oil; Pea and herb salad; 12 snowpeas, trimmed; 100 gm jicama, peeled and cut into julienne (see note); 2 green onions, thinly sliced diagonally; 50 gm snowpea sprouts, trimmed; 25 gm bean sprouts; 1 cup (loosely packed) coriander cress; 1 long red chilli, seeds removed, halved widthways, thinly sliced lengthways

Perfect match: Chinese roast duck with green onion pancakes

Australian Gourmet Traveller wine match recipe for Chinese roast duck with green onion pancakes.

Serves 6

Prep

20M

Cook

Total

1H 20M

It was all the rage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to pair wines with specific ailments. So sparkling ‘Burgundy’ – hugely popular at that time in Australia – was often recommended for invalids to help with recuperation. Something to do with the generous black fruit flavours, soothing touch of sweetness and restorative bubbles, perhaps. These days, I find a similar soothing effect can be attained from a plate of roast duck pancakes. Especially at Sunday yum cha after an indulgent Saturday night. And in a happy coincidence, the best accompaniment for roast duck pancakes is a glass or two of slightly sweet sparkling red (as it’s now correctly known). Try one that’s a blend of shiraz (for richness, to match the succulent duck) and grapes such as cabernet, which give the wine complexity, dryness and a herbal, spicy lift to match the green onion pancakes. – MAX ALLEN

It’s a case of two restoratives making a right. What could be better than soothing red bubbles with succulent roast duck?

Ingredients

1 Chinese roast duck (see note)

Hoisin and ginger dressing

125 ml (½ cup) hoisin sauce

1 tbsp lemon juice, or to taste

2½ tsp finely grated ginger

2 tsp sesame oil

Green onion pancakes

220 ml milk

1 egg

2 tsp light soy sauce

110 gm rice flour

2 green onions, thinly sliced diagonally

30 ml peanut oil

Pea and herb salad

12 snowpeas, trimmed

100 gm jicama, peeled and cut into julienne (see note)

2 green onions, thinly sliced diagonally

50 gm snowpea sprouts, trimmed

25 gm bean sprouts

1 cup (loosely packed) coriander cress

1 long red chilli, seeds removed, halved widthways, thinly sliced lengthways

Method

Main

1.For hoisin and ginger dressing, combine all ingredients and set aside.

2.For green onion pancakes, whisk milk, egg and soy sauce together in a bowl, gradually add flour, whisking until smooth, then add green onion. Heat ½ tsp peanut oil in a 15cm-diameter frying pan over medium-high heat, add 2 tbsp pancake batter, tip pan to evenly distribute and cook until air bubbles form (1-2 minutes). Turn and cook until golden and cooked through (1-2 minutes). Repeat with remaining batter and oil. Wrap pancakes in foil and set aside.

3.For pea and herb salad, blanch snowpeas (1-2 minutes), then refresh in iced water. Drain well, pat dry with absorbent paper, thinly slice diagonally and place in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and set aside.

4.Preheat oven to 200C. Remove meat and skin from duck. Thinly slice meat lengthways, place on an oven tray and place excess skin on top. Warm duck skin, duck and foil-wrapped pancakes in oven until duck skin is crisp (5-10 minutes). Thinly slice skin, combine with meat in a bowl and keep warm. Serve warm pancakes with duck, pea and herb salad and hoisin and ginger dressing.

Note Chinese roast duck is available from Chinese barbecue stores. Jicama (pronounced hee-kah-mah), sometimes called yam bean, is available from Asian and select greengrocers. Drink suggestion by Max Allen
Notes