Mu Shu Duck

Do you have those favorite take out dishes that you always order again and again instead of trying something new? We do. And when we are ordering in Chinese food Mu Shu Pork is one of them. G loves the stuff.

We had a few duck breasts in the freezer that we wanted to use in a more creative way than just pan searing them. And while having a mu shu pork craving I remembered the duck breast in the freezer and started thinking about how good the duck would be with some hoisen sauce. Low and behold Mu Shu Pork was what was for dinner.

 

Like many Asian style recipes this requires more than a few ingredients and some prep time for it to go well. The pancakes come together pretty quickly, and the rolling them together and cooking them on top of each really did help it go even faster, once I figured out what they recipe were talking about. This is the kind of meal G immediately starts taking over dishwashing duties as the kitchen becomes a chaotic mess quick when I'm cooking with this many components.

 

We just salt & peppered the duck breast and seared them off in a cast iron skillet before finishing them in the oven and they were juicy and delectable.

We served our Mu Shu Duck with a pinot gris from one of our favorite Oregon wineries Adelsheim. It paired perfectly

 

Make sure to put the yummy hoisen sauce on the pancake generously and even spoon a bit on top of the veggies and duck before you roll it up and eat it. They are definitely a little more messy to eat than a burrito because the pancakes are so thin and the sauce is drippy good but the mess far less outweighs the happiness your mouth will experience. I predict we'll be making mu shu duck in the future and maybe even ordering less mu shu pork.

 

 

RECIPE:

 

Mu Shu Duck (Adapted from Issue #97 January/February 2013 Cuisine at home)

Mandarin Pancakes

1 cup flour

1/2 cup boiling water

1 1/2 tsp sesame oil

Combine flour and water, then knead until mixture forms a smooth, stiff dough. Roll dough into 6 inch log, cover with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes.

 

Cut log into 12 equal parts, then roll each piece on floured surface into 3 inch pancake. Brush oil onto 6 pancakes. Press remaining pancakes on to the original 6 and roll each to 6 inches. Cover with damp cloth until ready to cook.

 

Heat large skillet over medium heat and cook until dry and blistered 1-2 minutes per side. Remove, cool and separate into 12 pancakes.

 

Mu Shu Duck

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

3 Tbspn low sodium soy sauce

1 Tbspn dry sherry

2 tspn chili garlic sauce

2 tspn cornstarch

1 tspn seasame oil

1/8 tspn white pepper

4 tspns peanut oil, divided

2 eggs, beaten

2 duck breasts

1/3 cup sliced scallion whites

1 Tbspn each minced garlic and fresh ginger

1 cup each julienned carrot and red bell pepper

2 Tbspns water

6 cups shredded napa cabbage

1 cup chopped green scallions

 

Heat oven to  375. Whisk together hoisin, soy sauce, sherry, chili garlic sauce, cornstarch, 1 tsp sesame oil, and pepper.

 

Heat 1 tsp peanut oil in wok over high heat until it shimmers. Stir fry eggs just until cooked through, transfer to plate.

 

Add 2 tspns peanut oil to cast iron skillet. Salt & pepper duck breasts. Cook duck breasts until browned on each side. Transfer skillet to oven for 5-7 minutes until duck is medium rare. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.

 

Stir fry scallion whites, garlic and ginger until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add carrot, bell pepper, and water; cook vegetables until crisp-tender 1-2 minutes.

 

Add cabbage, scallion greens, sauce mixture, eggs; stir until cabbage wilts 2-3 minutes.

 

Slice duck into strips. Place a spoonful of mu shu mixture in pancake, top with duck breast and scallions.