Hoisin Knife

Way back in 2005, Wen and I were living in Toronto and we stumbled onto the now-defunct Toba for brunch. There I discovered a dish that I have not seen since: the duck and hoisin crepe (a.k.a. Moo Shu Duck).

Peking duck.

Hoisin sauce.

In a fresh crepe.

What more could you want?

I’ve been mourning and missing it ever since (and yes, I’m aware that I probably could have googled either a recipe or a restaurant that serves it at any time during the past six years, but I’ve got a complicated relationship with food).

So imagine my surprise when I found myself making it on Saturday afternoon.

Why?

Knife skills.

Wen signed us up for a knife skills class at The Dirty Apron. She told me that we were going to make clam chowder in addition to learning about how to chop, dice and julienne.

The class is highly recommended. I now know how to properly cut an onion plus I got to spend a few hours in the Dirty Apron’s awesome test kitchen (12 mind-blowing Wolf ranges plus the demo area below):

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Imagine my surprise when it turned out that in addition to the clam chowder, we were also going to make my beloved Moo Shu Duck that I’ve been pining for for half a decade.

I figured I’d burn the living hell out of the crepes, but all turned out okay:

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Here’s what the delicious Hoisin-soaked, stir-fried interior looks like:

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I can’t wait to cook this at home; it won’t be five years until I try it again.

Here’s the recipe for those who are interested:

BBQ Duck and Fine Vegetable Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

  • 250g BBQ duck meat (shredded)
    • They get all their duck from Lee Loy. It’s about $18 a duck, but if you bargain like mad you can get it for $13
  • 20g Cashew nuts
  • 2 Cloves garlic
  • 4 Shitake mushrooms (julienne)
  • 1/4 Carrot (julienne)
  • 1/2 Small onion (julienne); can use 1/4 red onion
  • 30 ml Oyster sauce
  • 50 ml Hoisin sauce
  • 1 tsp Toasted sesame seeds
  • Salt & pepper

Directions:

  • Heat oil in a saute pan, allowing the pan to get very hot. Add the small onion, mushrooms, and garlic to the pan. Stir-fry on high heat for about 2 minutes.
  • Add the hoisin sauce, oyster sauce to the ingredients and stir-fry for another minute. Next, add the carrot, cashew nuts and sesame seeds and then cook for 1 more minute.
  • Add the BBQ duck meat at the very end and remove from the heat.

Star Anise Crepes

Ingredients:

  • 2 Eggs
  • 220 ml Milk
  • 20 ml Melted unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup Flour
  • 1 tsp Star Anise (finely ground)
  • 2 sprigs Italian parsley (finely chopped)
  • 1 tbsp Butter (room temp for cooking)

Directions:

  • Combine the eggs, milk, butter, and flour then whisk together until mixture is smooth and free of lumps. Add the parsley, star anise, and salt and pepper to the batter. The batter should be the consistency of cold cream.
  • Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, brush it with a little butter.
  • Use a ladle (about 3 tbsp) to put the batter into the center of the pan. Tilt the pan from left to right to cover the entire surface. Cook the crepe until the edges begin to brown and then flip the crepe over to cook the other side. Remove from the pan

It’s not stated above, but you fold the stir-fry into the crepe just like it was a burrito and serve.