Hoisin Duck Recipe

Using a small bowl, whisk together the Shaoxing Cooking Wine, five spice powder & soy sauce.  

Score each duck breast using a Chef's knife, lightly slicing into the skin both vertically & horizontally creating a diamond pattern. The slices should only be made into the skin, not piercing the meat. This will allow the duck skin to cook evenly, and the fat to render down creating crispy skin. Scoring the skin will also prevent the duck breast from curling up while cooking. 

Add the marinade to a small, shallow baking dish. Place the duck breasts into the marinade with the skin side facing up. The marinade should only be on the duck meat & not the skin. Place the dish into the fridge, uncovered, overnight. Leaving the duck unwrapped will help to dry out the skin, resulting in crispier skin. 

Once the duck has marinated overnight, remove the duck from the fridge placing it onto a plate lined with paper towel. Leave the plate of duck breast on the countertop letting the meat come up to room temperature for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, you can make the dough for the Mandarin pancakes. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Place a medium-sized skillet onto the stovetop setting the temperature to medium heat. 

Once the skillet is hot, add the duck breasts to the pan, skin side down. Continue to cook the duck breast skin for 5 minutes to reduce the duck fat. Once the duck fat begins to render and released into the pan, use a large spoon to baste the duck meat; this will keep the meat tender & prevent it from getting dry.  

After the duck skin is golden brown and rendered down, flip the duck breasts over & move the pan to the oven, cooking the duck for 5 minutes. Duck breast is best served at medium temperature; the center of the duck breast should read 125F on a kitchen thermometer. Let the duck breast rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes before thinly slicing them; the duck will continue to cook while it rests, reaching a perfect medium temperature. 

Set up a stand-up mixer on the countertop, and add 2 cups of flour and salt to the mixing bowl of the stand-up mixer. Reserve the other 1/2 cup of the flour for dusting the countertop and rolling out the dough. Attach the bowl to the mixer as well as the dough hook attachment. Turn the mixer onto medium-low speed, then carefully and slowly add the boiling water to the bowl. Continue mixing for 6-7 minutes until the dough has cooled off, and the dough is smooth in texture. 

Remove the bowl from the mixer covering the dough with a clean, damp kitchen towel. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. 

Once the dough has rested, lightly dust the countertop with flour & cut the dough into 16 pieces and roll the pieces into balls. 

Dust a rolling pin with flour & roll each ball out into 3 inches circles. Using a pastry brush, brush 8 of the pieces of dough with sesame oil just enough to coat the dough. 

Stack the other eight pieces of dough on top of the eight pieces of dough that have been brushed with sesame oil. They will now be stacked in 2 like a sandwich. 

Take each stack and roll them out using the rolling pin, pressing the dough together and rolling out each stack into 8-inch circles.  

Place a large non-stick pan onto the stovetop, setting the temperature to medium-high heat.  

Using the remaining sesame oil & pastry brush, brush the pan with oil & add a pancake to the pan. Cook the pancake for 1 minute until it starts to bubble & puff up, then flip it to cook on the other side for an additional minute. Place the cooked pancake onto a plate lined with a clean kitchen towel or napkin, and cover to keep the pancakes warm. Repeat the process with the remaining pancakes. 

Place each pancake onto a cutting board, filling the pancakes with a spoonful of hoisin sauce, sliced duck breast, cucumber and scallions. Roll the pancakes into a crêpe shaped roll slicing them in half. 

Place onto a large platter & serve with extra hoisin sauce on the side.