peking duck pancakes

[purple goddess]

My son, aka The Lima bean, turned 17 this week. As part of a week of celebrations, we're having Peking Duck tonight.

I assumed (wrongly) that we'd be able to pick up some pancakes with the duck.

Erm.

Newp.

So, I done me some Googling and come up with about 1000 different recipes. Some with egg, some without.. one recipe where you cook two pancakes together at the same time.. some with batter, some with dough.

So, come on guys, hit me with yer best chinese/savoury/Peking pancake recipe. It's for dinner in about 7 hours, so plenty of time to prepare.

TIA.

PG

[bw2082]

It's quite simple. All you need to do is get some flour and add a pinch of salt. Then boil some water and pour enough of it into the flour slowly to form a nice dough consistency. It should not be overly sticky. Knead slightly and let it rest. Then roll the dough into small balls a little smaller than a ping pong ball. Take one and flatten it slightly then brush the top with seasame oil. Flatten another ball and place on top of the other oiled ball and then roll the 2 pieces that are stuck together out into a thin pancake. Heat a skillet and plop the pancake into the pan. It will begin to puff and char slightly in spots. Flip it over and do the same to the other side. Remove it from the pan. I find that the easiest way to separate the two halves is to throw the pancake against the counter pretty hard which opens up a hole along the seam that you can slide a knife into

[purple goddess]

thanks to all who replies.

My first google hit on something that called for something that was more akin to a french crepe or drop scone (Flour, cornflour, egg and butter) and a few others were just the flour and water as you have suggested. I want to be as traditional as possible.

There's only the three of us home for dinner tonight, so it won't be too time consuming for me to make 15-20 pancakes. Although a 17 y/o boy can probably Hoover up 1/2 a duck and 15 pancakes by osmosis, just by walking thru the kitchen!!

[paulj]

I believe the purpose of rolling two together with oil between is to make them thinner. I made some many years ago, but nothing recently.

In another thread, there was mention of restaurants buying them instead of investing the time in making them in house, but I haven't looked for them at my local mega-Asian mart. A decent quality flour tortilla or wrap might work as a substitute. In a pinch any other thin bread or crepe could be wrapped around the duck.

[purple goddess]

paulj,

Here in Melbourne, Australia, it's all we can do to get "Ole El Paso" dinner kits. Mexican food.. REAL Mexican food is almost non-existent, so a good quality tortilla is kinda subjective!! I might drop by my local Asian MArt, tho... that's a good idea. Thanks for the tip.

[paulj]

After I wrote my post, I checked your profile, and toyed with suggesting an Indian flat bread instead. But the ones I'm familiar with (chapatti etc) are made with a whole wheat flour.

[purple goddess]

we've got several awesome Asian mega marts where I work, so I am going to drop by one of them on the way home. See if I can get some pre-fab/frozen ones, as my daughter and her b/f have announced they'll be home for dinner. I don't feel like spending the whole night rolling out pancakes for ravenous teen-beasts!

[goodhealthgourmet]

did you find any recipes that called for nothing more than flour, hot/boiling water & sesame oil (for brushing)? AFAIK, that's the traditional standard.

[DeppityDawg]

The traditional recipe is super simple: no egg, and the pancakes are rolled out and cooked two at a time with sesame oil in between. That should narrow your pool of recipes down to about… 950. But seriously, it's just flour and boiling water. It's more about the texture than the flavor. The star of the show is the duck (specifically the duck skin!)

But they are kind of time-consuming if you're making a big stack. You might try getting two frying pans going at the same time.