Who doesn't love the crispy duck pancakes with hoisin sauce that you get as a starter at every Chinese restaurant? Follow my easy instructions and you can make these at home any time you feel like it!

Jump to:
Crispy hoisin duck pancakes
I always order these duck pancakes whenever I go to a Chinese restaurant. I love the flavour of hoisin sauce and the crunch of the shredded carrots and cucumber all wrapped in a crispy pancake roll. It's such fun putting them together too. The only problem is that they are so delicious I always end up eating far too many of them and then can't finish the rest of the meal I ordered!
With lockdown still in full swing here in the UK and my favourite Chinese restaurant still closed, I decided to make some at home. They are so easy to make and the advantage of making your own is that you can make a full meal out of them.
As far as the duck goes, these pancakes are traditionally made with roasted duck. This is fine if you can wait for 3 hours or so for the duck to roast! I've devised a way of cooking a duck in the pressure cooker, which only takes 40 minutes, and is a great time saver. Once the duck has been pressure cooked, all you have to do is crisp up the skin in a frying pan and shred the meat. Find the instructions for cooking a duck in a pressure cooker in this post for how to cook duck in a pressure cooker.
Of course, any duck leftover from a roast duck can be used too!
You can make these crispy duck pancakes with homemade wonton wrappers (if you can find them in the supermarket). Unfortunately, I live in a small town and can't always get ready-made wrappers, so I've included instructions for making your own pancakes too. They are easier to make than you might think.
The pancakes are made with a boiling water pastry, and you fry two at once and then peel them apart, so they are super-quick to make.
Ingredients for crispy duck pancakes
This recipe will make 8 pancakes. If you want to make more double up the ingredients.
Shredded duck - for 8 pancakes you will need about 2 cups of shredded duck. You can use duck leftover from a roast duck or use my easy recipe for duck cooked in a pressure cooker.
You could also fry up 2 duck breasts and shred those instead.
To fry duck breasts:
- pat the duck breasts with a paper towel to remove any moisture;
- score the skin with a sharp knife and rub the duck breasts all over with ½ a teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of five-spice powder ;
- place into a dry frying pan, skin side down, and slowly increase the heat;
- fry for 10 to 12 minutes until the skin is crispy, and most of the fat has been released;
- turn the duck breasts over and fry for another 3 minutes;
- allow the duck to rest for 5 minutes before carving it into thin slices.
Vegetables - for this recipe I have used finely shredded carrots and cucumber. You could also use shredded spring onions, bamboo shoots or even a handful of crispy beansprouts.
Hoisin sauce - use your favourite brand from the supermarket, or substitute with plum sauce.
For the pancakes - flour, sunflower oil, salt and boiling water.
How to make crispy hoisin duck pancakes
**Get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making crispy hoisin duck pancakes on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
- Place the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, then add the boiling water and mix until it forms a shaggy dough (image 1 above).
- As soon as the mixture is cool enough to handle, press it together into a ball (image 2 above).
- Knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic (image 3 above).
- Cover and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
- Roll 2 of the pieces into balls and flatten them into round disks (image 1 above).
- Brush one of the disks with sunflower oil taking care to cover one side completely. This will allow you to separate the pancakes when they are cooked.
- Place the second disk on top (image 3 above), press together gently, and then roll out as thinly as possible into a circular shape (about 6 inches in diameter) (image 4 above).
- Brush a frying pan with oil and fry the pancake until starting to brown on both sides.
- Once cool enough to handle, gently pull the pancakes apart.
- Repeat with the other balls of dough until you have 8 pancakes.
Useful Hint - these pancakes make amazing wraps with ham or cheese for lunches if you've run out of bread 🙂
Assemble the hoisin duck pancakes
Layout all your ingredients for the pancakes, and let each person assemble their own.
- Spread the pancake thinly with one teaspoon of hoisin sauce (image 2 above).
- Add a few pieces of shredded duck (image 3 above).
- Top with vegetable strips (image 4 above).
- Fold up the bottom of the pancake and then fold over one of the sides (image 1 above).
- Fold over the second side (image 2 above).
- Pick it up, eat and enjoy!
If you'd like to be notified of new recipes, why not subscribe to my newsletter? To say thank you, you will receive a free recipe e-book containing some of my most popular cakes and desserts.
Can I freeze the pancakes?
You can freeze these pancakes (unfilled) by layering them between sheets of greaseproof paper (or baking parchment) and placing them flat into a large Ziploc bag.
You can leave them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
To use, remove the pancakes from the freezer and allow them to defrost at room temperature. Reheat them in a steamer or a dry frying pan over low heat. You could also heat them for a few seconds in the microwave.
Leftover shredded duck can be frozen in a Ziploc bag for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator and reheat in a steamer or in the microwave.
Variations
Instead of using duck in your pancakes, why not try these variations:
- shredded chicken with sweet and sour sauce
- garlic prawns with spicy Szechuan sauce
- shredded pork with plum sauce
Use any combination of these vegetables:
- Shredded cucumber
- Shredded carrots
- Beansprouts
- Sliced water chestnuts
- Thinly sliced bamboo shoots
- Lightly steamed tenderstem broccoli or broccolini
- Steamed green beans
Or why not make a whole meal of it and serve them all?
Save for later
Why not pin this recipe for crispy duck pancakes with hoisin sauce to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it later? Just click the image below.
Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.
Related recipes
You can find many Chinese recipes on my Asian inspired recipes page. Here are few you might enjoy:
📋The recipe
Crispy duck pancakes with hoisin sauce
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- Pressure cooker (for duck)
- Frying Pan
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded duck See notes below
- 1 small carrot cut into very thin batons
- ⅓ small cucumber cut into very thin batons
- 2 spring onions shredded (optional)
- 1 cup beansprouts (optional)
- 1 cup (240g) plain flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce store-bought
Instructions
- Prepare the duck. If you are using leftover duck, shred it. If you are cooking a whole duck in the pressure cooker, follow this link on how to cook duck in a pressure cooker. If you are pan-frying duck breasts, see the notes below for instructions.2 cups shredded duck
- Peel the carrot and wash the cucumber and slice them into very find batons.1 small carrot, ⅓ small cucumber
- If you are using spring onions, shred them into approximately 3" lengths and then slice them finely. If you are using beansprouts, rinse them under cold water and leave to drain.2 spring onions, 1 cup beansprouts
Make the pancakes
- Place the flour in a mixing bowl and add the salt.1 cup (240g) plain flour, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add the boiling water and mix until it forms a shaggy dough.1 cup boiling water
- When the mixture is cool enough to handle, press it together to form a soft ball, then knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
- Roll 2 of the pieces into balls and flatten them into round disks.
- Brush one of the disks with sunflower oil taking care to cover one side completely. This will allow you to separate the pancakes when they are cooked
- Place the second disk on top, press together gently, and then roll out as thinly as possible into a circular shape (about 6 inches in diameter)
- Brush a frying pan with oil and fry the pancake until starting to brown. Turn over and let the other side brown slightly.2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- Remove from the pan and let cool slightly.
- Once cool enough to handle, gently pull the pancakes apart.
- Repeat with the rest of the dough balls - you will have 8 pancakes.
Assemble the pancakes
- Spread one pancake thinly with hoisin sauce.4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- Add a few pieces of shredded duck.
- Top with vegetable strips.
- Fold up the bottom of the pancake, and then fold in the sides to encase the filling.
- Eat and enjoy!
Notes
- leftover duck from a roast duck
- pressure cooker duck - see this post on how to cook duck in a pressure cooker
- pan-fried duck breasts
- pat the duck breasts with a paper towel to remove any moisture.
- score the skin with a sharp knife and rub the duck breasts all over with ½ a teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of five-spice powder.
- place into a dry frying pan, skin side down, and slowly increase the heat.
- fry for 10 to 12 minutes until the skin is crispy, and most of the fat has been released. Then turn the duck breasts over and fry for another 3 minutes.
- allow the duck to rest for 5 minutes before carving into thin slices.
- shredded chicken with sweet and sour sauce
- garlic prawns with spicy Szechuan sauce
- shredded pork with plum sauce
- Shredded cucumber
- Shredded carrots
- Beansprouts
- Sliced water chestnuts
- Thinly sliced bamboo shoots
- Lightly steamed tenderstem broccoli or broccolini
- Steamed green beans
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
If you made this recipe and enjoyed it, I'd love it if you could give me a star rating in the comments below. And if you'd like to get in touch, you can email me at [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you. And don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list so you can grab yourself a copy of my FREE COOKBOOK!
If you'd like to continue browsing, just click on this link to all my recipes.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!