My brother Michael spent a year in China working as an engineer. Being the person he was, he enjoyed living as authentically as possible and learned how the locals went about their lives, including how they cooked. As a result, whenever he would come home to visit, he would inflict his education on us, and make us learn these super-authentic techniques for cooking. The most memorable meal was this Peking Duck three-day extravaganza that included plucking a duck, marinating it, hanging it from a tree in our backyard for a few days and keeping our dogs and other wildlife away from it as it cured.

The result of all this work was a terrible meal, but a hilarious experience that perfectly exemplified the man who was Michael. He was ever over the top, showing great enthusiasm and trying to share what he’d learned, even if he didn’t get it quite right. It was the thought, and the effort that counted Michael died in 1994, and every year for his birthday my family cooks Peking Duck in his honour. Never using his recipe of course. Over the years we’ve come up with a way to get it semi-authentic but with our twist – and unlike Michael, it’s super simple.

Hope you like it. Micheal would have hated it.

For the duck:

4 duck breasts (about 200 to 300 grams each) with the skin on, and crosshatched.
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup of Shaoxing rice wine (Mirin or Pale Dry Sherry as
alternatives)
1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
1 teaspoon of five spice powder

For the pancakes:

1 1/2 cups of regular flour
1 pinch of salt
2/3 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon oil

For the garnishes:

1 cucumber, de-seeded and julienned
1/2 cup julienned cantaloupe
2 scallions, julienned
3 cloves of garlic, that’s been finely minced and mixed with 1 teaspoon oil to make a paste
1/2 cup of hoisin sauce (warmed)

Prep (Total time – 24 hours – or you can get by with only a 1 1/2 hours if you’re in a hurry):

Marinate the duck in the salt, soy sauce, wine, and five-spice powder mixture and leave them skin side up in a dish uncovered in your refrigerator overnight. The idea is you want the skin to dry out a bit as this makes getting it crispy super easy. If you don’t have the time, you only have to marinate them for 30 minutes.

Next, and this is cool, it’s time for the pancakes. Mix the flour and the salt in a bowl. Pour the boiling hot water into the flour mixture and use chopsticks or a spatula to mix it and shape it into a ball. Knead for 8 minutes until it is smooth, dusting with flour regularly if it gets sticky. Wrap the dough in saran wrap and allow it to rest at room temperature for an hour or so.

Roll the dough into one long cylinder and cut it into 12 equally sized pieces. Form them into 12 dough balls, and then flatten them with the palm of your hand into small discs about 2 inches in diameter then brush the disks with oil on both sides.

Stack the discs one on top of each other, making six pairs in total.

Use a rolling pin, (or a wine bottle if you don’t have one), roll the discs into 7-inch pancakes, flipping them frequently, so each of the pairs is the same size.

Heat a cast-iron frying pan over medium-low heat, and peel the pancakes apart, placing one in the pan at a time. After 30 to 45 seconds, you will see air pockets begin to bubble up. That’s when you should give it a flip. Cook the other side for the same length of time, looking for any bubbles that are forming. They should be mostly white, with just a few brown spots, never black. Cook them all and set aside as they can be reheated in a steamer when ready to serve.

Using the same pan you used to make the pancakes, turn the heat to medium, and sear the duck breasts, skin side down. Move them with tongs frequently so the skin crisps up in the duck fat that is rendering out. While this is going on, turn on your oven to 350°f.

When the duck skin is golden brown and a little bit crispy, (it should take about 5 minutes) drain off the duck fat. In the cast-iron pan, flip the breasts, so they are skin side up, and pop them into the oven for 10 minutes for medium-rare or 15 minutes for well done. Medium rare is recommended as that’s when it is its juiciest.

While the duck is in the oven prep your garnishes, and get the steamer going, and your pancakes ready to be reheated.

Pull the duck out and let it rest on a cutting board for 5-10 minutes, then, flip them over skin side down and cut them into thin strips.

This is usually a make-your-own meal so put the duck the warmed pancakes, fixings, and sauce all on a platter and ask everyone to dig in.

To assemble, place a warm pancake on your plate, and spread some of the warm hoisin sauce around the centre of the pancake. Apply a smear of the garlic paste, and then the garnishes, and the duck, fold and enjoy!