Rob Beckett's crispy duck with pancakes | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

What sides to serve with duck pancakes? ›

Serve with cucumber and spring onions! Hoisin and Soy Roasted Duck Platter A great sharing meal which goes well with Chinese pancakes, similar to Peking duck.

It's usually served with pancakes, as the aromatic variety. Go for whichever you prefer. We like the aromatic crispy duck, which is served in every Chinese restaurant, and is certainly no better at Four Seasons than anywhere else.

Peking-style Crispy Duck with pancakes is always popular or to sate those with a larger appetite you could serve the duck in bao buns instead (Ocado sell bao buns), with the shredded vegetables and plum sauce, as bao buns are a little more filling than pancakes.

Serve duck alongside cucumber matchsticks, carrot matchsticks, thinly sliced scallions, Boiled Water Pancakes, and additional hoisin sauce.

Using a fork, prick the skin all over without piercing the meat; season with salt and pepper. Place duck on a rack set in a roasting pan and transfer to oven; roast for 40 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 degrees and continue roasting until juices run clear when thigh is pierced, about 30 minutes more.

The journey towards perfectly roasted or baked duck breast entails commencing with a searing process. This initial step sets the foundation for achieving the ideal oven-roasted duck breast—a tantalizingly golden and crisp exterior juxtaposed with a succulent, flavorful interior.

Roast on a rack.

For especially fatty duck, you'll benefit from starting the cooking process with the breast side down for the first 40 minutes or so, before flipping it breast side up for the rest of the roast, to ensure even browning and fat rendering all around.

Put the breasts skin-side down in a cold frying pan and slowly heat the pan. This will melt the fat and help the skin to crisp up without burning. Fry the breasts, letting the fat melt out and the skin crisp up.

Why do you boil duck before roasting? ›

The boiling water helps pull the skin taut, making it easier to score in a crosshatch pattern. That, in turn, allows the fat to render out as everything roasts.

Crispy aromatic duck

The meat has less fat and is drier and crispier compared to that of Peking duck.

One secret to crisp skin and golden colour is making sure the duck is nice and dry. Pat all over with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Score the skin if you like. It can help the fat render and it looks attractive, but it's optional.

One Peking duck weighs about 2.2 kilograms, subtracting the weight of the bones. In the end, you are left with about 1.1 kilograms of meat and skin, which should be enough for two people.

Formally the skin is eaten first with a sweet bean paste. Next you can eat the meat with thinly sliced vegetables such as spring onion, cucumber or pickled radish, freshly steamed pancakes, and hoisin sauce. Today a simpler version of this dish is found in Chinese take-away restaurants worldwide.