Roast spiced duck with plums & spring onion pancakes

Method

1. 01

   Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan. Pat the duck very dry inside and out. Prick the skin all over (not into the flesh) with a sharp skewer — this is how the fat renders and the skin crisps.

2. 02

   Mix the ground star anise, coriander, muscovado, salt, pepper and five spice into a dark, fragrant rub. Massage it all over the duck, including inside the cavity. Sit the duck breast-up on a rack over a deep roasting tin.

3. 03

   Roast for 1 hour 20 minutes, draining off the rendered fat into a jar twice during cooking (keep it — duck fat roast potatoes for life).

4. 04

   Toss the plum halves with the vinegar, soy and honey. Scatter cut-side up around the duck for the final 25 minutes of roasting, until the duck skin is mahogany and lacquered and the plums are soft and jammy.

5. 05

   Rest the duck loosely tented with foil for 15 minutes while you cook the pancakes.

6. 06

   For the pancakes — tip the flour into a bowl, pour over the just-boiled water and stir with chopsticks or a fork until shaggy. Bring together into a soft dough, knead for 5 minutes until smooth, then rest under a damp cloth for 20 minutes.

7. 07

   Divide the dough into 6. Roll each piece into a thin round, brush with sesame oil, scatter with spring onion and a pinch of salt. Roll up into a tight log, coil into a snail, then roll flat again into a pancake about 18cm across.

8. 08

   Heat a film of vegetable oil in a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry each pancake for 1.5–2 minutes a side until blistered, golden and crisp at the edges. Keep warm in a low oven, wrapped in a clean tea towel.

9. 09

   Carve the duck at the table. Pile pancakes on a board, plums in a shallow bowl with their syrupy juices. Let everyone build their own.