Peking duck pancakes

The pancakes served with Peking duck are traditionally very thin, soft and floury. They're an okay tool for transferring chunks of juicy duck meat, crispy duck skin, and gobs of sticky sauce to your mouth... but really - don't your taste buds deserve more than that? This recipe makes tasty, crispy-edged "pancakes" that add a whole new dimension to Peking duck, making this classic Chinese recipe even more delicious. Who needs store-bought wrappers?

Recipe

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp oil, plus more for cooking
pinch salt
water

Put the kettle on and boil a small amount of water.

In a small bowl, mix the salt into the flour. Add 1 tsp of oil and a small splash of the hot water from the kettle. Mix vigorously, adding more water until the dough forms a ball. Be careful not to add to much water - it's easy to add a tsp or two more if it's too dry, but more of a pain to stiffen a too wet dough. You'll use less than a quarter cup of water in total.

Traditional recipes say at this point to rest the dough for 30 minutes in the fridge, but I don't normally bother (as I tend to make this just before eating). In theory, the resting allows the gluten to relax, resulting in a more tender pancake. In reality, these things are rolled paper thin, so the difference isn't really noticeable.

Lightly flour a clean work surface and break off a piece of dough about the side of a large marble or a cherry tomato. Roll out as thinly as you can - it should be almost translucent. Dust off any extra flour (I do this by tapping the pancake between my hands).

Heat a little oil in a flat-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the pancake and cook until the dough surface changes colour (it will become more opaque as the dough cooks), puffs up slightly, and the underside has taken on a slight golden tinge. This will probably take about a minute, but will vary depending on how hot your pan gets. Turn the pancake over and cook the second side - this will likely take less time than cooking the first side. While your first pancake is cooking, roll out your second.

Repeat until all your pancakes are cooked, placing the stack of cooked pancakes under a clean dishtowel to keep them warm while you finish the rest. This amount of dough will make about 8 pancakes, enough for 2-3 people. You can obviously speed up the process by having more than one pan on the go.

Exactly how long you cook each pancake is a matter of personal taste - the longer you cook them, the crunchier they'll go. I personally like mine slightly crunchy on the edges but still soft in the middle (so that they can still easily be rolled without cracking).

Serves: 2-3
Preparation and cooking time: 5 minutes prep, 15 minutes cooking in one pan, half that with 2 pans