Mini Native Duck Pancakes Recipe
Mini Native Duck Pancakes (makes 30)
A native spin on classic Chinese Duck Pancakes! The duck is rubbed and cooked in beautiful native spices, the sweet yet tart sauce is a take on a traditional Chinese plum sauce. It's loaded with dried prunes, Davidson Plum and the saltbush adding a fantastic taste to the mini pancakes. Topped with some fresh native greens – you’ll be sure to impress with these bad boys at your next picnic (or fingers crossed
– dinner party soon)!
Recipe by Dan Dumbrell
Difficulty
Medium
Prep Time
25min
Total Time
2 hrs
Serving Size
6
Ingredients:
For the native plum sauce
150g dried prunes (pitted)
1 Tbsp canola oil
½ brown onion (diced)
3 garlic cloves (crushed)
3cm ginger (minced)
30ml Shaoxing wine
150ml water
50ml soy sauce
50g honey
50ml rice wine vinegar
2 tsp Davidson plum powder
For the spiced duck
2 duck Marylands
½ tsp salt
50ml Shaoxing wine
100ml reserved native plum sauce
Method
1. Set over medium heat. Add the brown onion and sweat them down for about 5 minutes, followed by the garlic and ginger and cook for another 2 minutes.
2. Deglaze the pan with the Shaoxing wine, stir and then add the soy sauce, honey, rice wine vinegar and aniseed myrtle.
3. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cover the pot with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally so the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
4. After 30 minutes, turn off the heat and leave to cool. Once cooled, puree with an immersion blender until a smooth sauce is achieved.
5. Set aside 100ml of the sauce – this will be used for the spiced duck recipe.
6. With the remaining sauce, stir in 2 tsp of Davidson plum powder – which will give the sauce that beautiful tartness. Adjust for seasoning.
For the spiced duck
1. In a mixing bowl, toss all the native spices and the salt with the duck Marylands and leave to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 170C.
3. Add the duck Marylands skin-side down to a cold stainless steel pan.
4. Place the pan on medium heat until the fat renders and the skin turns brown and crispy about 7 minutes. If there is too much fat in the pan – pour it off (you can use this for other things later)! Flip the Marylands and sear the other side for about 3 minutes.
5. Deglaze the pan with the Shaoxing wine, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
6. Add the reserved native plum sauce and water and give the liquid in the pan a quick stir. The liquid should be a bit more than halfway up the side of the duck.
7. Cover the pan with a lid, or aluminium foil, and place in the preheated oven for 60 minutes. Flip both Marylands at the 20-minute mark, and flip them again at the 40-minute mark.
8. After 60 minutes, the duck should be fork tender and be falling off the bone. Remove from the oven, shred and rest in the braising liquid until ready to serve.
For the saltbush pancakes
1. Add the flour, cornstarch and saltbush to a mixing bowl and give a quick stir. Add the water then give this a stir until the batter is smooth – you can use more or less water depending on how thick or thin you like your pancakes.
2. Pour batter into a jug or squeeze bottle and let it stand for about 15 minutes.
3. Set a large non-stick pan over medium heat and pour batter to make 7cm diameter pancakes – you can use an boiled egg ring to help you get a perfectly round shape. Cook each pancake for about 1½ minute per side.
4. Remove mini pancakes from heat – place them under a tea towel so they don’t dry out. Keep doing this until you have enough pancakes.
To Assemble
To assemble each pancake, add a heaped teaspoon of the native plum sauce, followed by a small heap of the shredded duck on each pancake. Top with Karkalla Leaves and Warrigal Greens – try not to eat too many while assembling them :P
Serve!
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