Peking Duck x Pancake Soup
An international collab brought to you by the moon 🌝 🤝 🌚
Last week’s newsletter was entirely vegan, today’s is not. What can I say - I like to keep y’all on your toes! That being said, if there is anything specific you’d like to see and read around here, let me know! I serve to please.
Today we’ve got:
Lunar new year
Pancake day
The moon
A duck recipe
A duck broth recipe
A pancake noodle recipe
A duck salad recipe
Anyway. Have you ever wondered what Peking duck would look like as a soup? That’s basically what happened here, in anticipation of both Lunar New Year (this coming Saturday) and Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday, next week).
Let me preface this by saying that my soup is Peking-duck-ish at best: while I didn’t roast the duck in the traditional Peking duck manner, I incorporated ingredients used as Peking duck stuffing (scallions, anis, cinnamon, bay leaves) into the broth. And the pancakes, rather than the typical thin pancakes used to scoop up hoisin sauce and crispy duck skin, are savoury crepes rolled up and cut into noodles - common in Germany and Austria (known as Frittaten or Flädle). Essentially, this week’s recipe is a very hot international collab, drawing inspiration from 2 holidays with not much in common - except for THE MOON.
As the name suggests, Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the lunar calendar. It’s celebrated by East Asian communities all over the world - this new year is the year of the Dragon. Alongside foods like dumplings, fish, and sticky rice cakes (which symbolize prosperity, reunion, and good fortune), Peking duck is a popular dish, representing wealth and abundance.
Pancake Day (officially Shrove Tuesday, but also mardi gras or Fat Tuesday), on the other hand, is the last day of carnival and the day before the fasting period of Lent. Historically, it was a day to use up any leftover butter, eggs, and fat. Easter (and consequently Shrove Tuesday, Good Friday, etc.) fall on very different days each year because Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox (March 21st). The more ya know!
The Duck
It all started with last Sunday’s roast duck - which was not a Peking duck, just a freestyle duck. As much as I love to cook, I do firmly believe that some foods in life (specifically Peking duck, sushi, or really good bread, in my case), are best left to the professionals.
Ingredients
1 duck
flaky salt
1 apple
1 lemon
a few garlic cloves
4 scallions
3 tb melted butter
3 tb soy sauce
2 tb minced ginger
Preheat your oven to 180°C (375°F). Salt the skin generously, then score the top in a diamond pattern using a sharp knife (don’t cut into the meat!)
Stuff the cavity of the duck with lemons, apples, a couple garlic cloves, and a bunch of scallions. Combine the soy sauce, melted butter, and grated ginger, and apply to the skin of the duck using a brush.
Place the duck on a rack (to allow the fat to drip below). Roast in the oven for 40 minutes, then turn it over, brush with the butter-soy mix and roast for another 40 minutes. After the second round of 40 minutes, check the temperature of one of the breasts using a meat thermometer. It should be at around 60°C (140°F) - if it isn’t, give it another 10-20 minutes in the oven. If/when it is, turn the bird back around, brush with another coat of the butter-soy mix and turn the oven to grill on the highest temperature for about 3 minutes to ensure nice browned and crispy skin.
The Broth
The duck carcass from above
3 scallions
a generous knob of ginger, sliced
a few garlic cloves, halved
2 star anise
1 teaspoon cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon salt
3ish litres cold water
Place into a pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, cooking on low for about 6 hours. The broth will have quite a rich colour thanks to the cinnamon! Strain and set aside. For the bonus salad, reserve any leftover meat and place in a container in the fridge. It’ll be super tender and very intense from simmering with all those aromatics!
The Frittaten!
2 eggs
80g flour
125ml milk
2 tb oil or melted butter
A sprinkle of salt
Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl with a whisk until a thick batter is formed.
Heat a bit of oil in a coated pan. Pour a ladle of batter into the pan and fry on both sides until golden. Try to make them rounder than I did (it’s harder than you think!)
When the pancake batter is browned on both sides, remove using a spatula and allow to cool down on a plate. Repeat until you’ve used all of the batter.
Roll up the pancakes and cut them into thin noodle-esque strips.
Final Soup Assembly
Serves 4
Divide the pancake noodles across 4 bowls, then cover with the hot duck broth from above, a few chopped scallions, and a couple drops of scallion oil (recipe here). Enjoy!!!
Bonus Salad
Serves 1
Leftover duck meat
a handful of green beans, ends trimmed, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tb sesame oil
1 tb tamari or soy sauce
1 tb rice vinegar
1 small chilli, chopped
1 tsp white sesame seeds
1 tsp black sesame seeds
Mix everything together in a bowl and eat right away.
Finally, if you’re missing a card to send to that special someone 💕
Your roast duck looks fabulous! And now I finally understand why soup is better with roasted bones and carcass rather than a pale, sickly looking soup chicken- better know as a Suppenhuhn!