Fast Peking Duck

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 3 duck breasts (350 g each)
• 1 tbsp ginger, fresh, pureed or finely chopped
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 75 ml Mirin (Chinese sweet wine)
• 220 g flour
• 180 ml water, boiling
• 1 tbsp water, cold
• ½ cucumber(s)
• 4 spring onions
• 1 jar plum sauce, Chinese
• Honey

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

Score the skin of the duck breasts into small, even diamonds or squares with a sharp knife (to prevent the meat from shrinking during frying). Peel the cucumber and cut into thin 4-5 cm strips. Wash the spring onions and slice them into thin rings. Place the cucumber and onions in a clay dish and refrigerate until ready to serve. Make a marinade from the ginger puree, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and cinnamon and spread it in a slightly deep dish. Brush the meat side down with the marinade and place it in the dish with the remaining marinade. Let it marinate for 45 minutes. For the pancakes, put the flour in a bowl and slowly add the boiling water, stirring constantly. Then add the cold water. Once the temperature allows, knead the dough on a floured surface until soft and pliable. Cover with a damp cloth and let stand for 30 minutes. Then roll out the dough with your hands into a long, sausage-shaped shape and divide it into 16 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, flatten it (if necessary, brush lightly with sesame oil for moisture), and roll it out thinly. Fry the pancakes on both sides in a non-stick pan without fat until the first light bubbles appear. Keep warm in a shallow dish in the oven, covered with a hot, damp cloth. For the duck breast, preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. First, fry the duck breasts in a pan in plenty of hot oil over medium heat, then remove from the heat. Then place them skin-side up in a shallow dish, brush the skin with a little honey, and brown briefly in the oven with top heat until the skin is nice and crispy. Set the oven to keep warm. While the pan is baking, return the stock in the pan to the heat and deglaze with the mirin. Mix in the plum sauce and any remaining marinade, and pour the sauce into a bowl. Cut the duck meat crosswise (skin-side up) into thin slices and serve on a hot platter. Place cucumbers, onions, and sauce in bowls next to the pancakes, and serve with the pancakes in the warm bowl. Roll the pancakes at the table: First, spread 1-2 tablespoons of sauce on the pancake, then cucumbers, then the meat, and then the onions on top. Roll the pancake, and then the diners decide: professionals can eat such a creation with chopsticks, others use a knife and fork—good friends use their hands. Although this is quite a culture clash, a properly tempered sake goes well with it. Editor’s note: In the “Try Something New” video “Quick Peking Duck,” Viki makes a sauce instead of marinade. Instead of marinating the duck breast in the marinade overnight, Viki first sears it skin-side down in a pan with a little ginger and a clove of garlic for 5-6 minutes, then finishes cooking it in the oven at 160°C. She makes the sauce from the following ingredients: 1 tbsp sesame oil 1 red chili pepper 1/2 bulb of ginger, sliced ​​1 shallot, diced 7 tbsp mirin 7 tbsp plum jam 1 tsp honey 1 tbsp soy sauce 1/2 bunch of coriander stalks approx. 100 ml water 2 tbsp hoisin sauce in the sauce