Din Tai Fung serves an appetizer called Sliced Duck in Crispy Spring Onion Pastry. Despite the numerous times I’ve dined at Din Tai Fung, I’ve only ever had that particular dish once. I did like the dish, as the spring roll pastry was especially crispy, but it seemed like a dish that could easily be made by anyone. True enough, after trying it out for myself, I’ve concluded that this dish is extremely easy to replicate. You spend only ~$2 making this on your own instead of ~$9 having it outside! There’s hardly any preparation involved; all you need to do is get frozen smoked duck and some ready-made spring roll pastry.
Cut around 100g of smoked duck into 12 slices. You can adjust the thickness of each slice according to your own preference.
Note: I bought the Popples brand of smoked duck from Giant supermarket, but you can also try other brands of smoked duck. In fact, other brands seem to be even cheaper, although I can’t guarantee the taste is good.
Cut 3 stalks of spring onion into short lengths. You need a minimum of 12.
Place a sheet of spring roll pastry onto a flat surface and brush with egg wash all over.
Note: There are two sizes of spring roll pastry commonly sold in supermarkets – 19cm and 12.5cm. Do get the smaller one for this recipe!
Paste another sheet of spring roll on top.
Place a slice of smoked duck and a spring onion in the middle of the pastry, and brush egg wash around the edges.
Fold the pastry around the duck.
Deep fry in a pot of hot oil until golden brown. Remove and cut into half.
This is definitely one of the easiest recipes I’ve ever done. You really don’t need much skills to replicate this Din Tai Fung dish. I was very satisfied with its shatteringly-crispy skin and the flavourful smoked duck wrapped inside. This recipe makes 12 whole pieces which is probably enough to feed 4-6 people. Just so you know, what you see in the picture above are 3 whole pieces (6 halves).
DIY: $2.06 for 6 whole pieces
Dine Out: ~$9.18 (with GST) for 6 whole pieces
Sliced Duck in Crispy Pastry (Din Tai Fung style)
Ingredients
- 12 slices smoked duck ~100g ($2.88)
- 3 stalks spring onion short lengths ($0.30)
- 24 sheets spring roll pastry $0.744
- 1 beaten egg for egg wash ($0.20)
Instructions
- Cut smoked duck into 12 thin slices. Cut spring onion into short lengths.
- Place one sheet of spring roll pastry onto a flat surface. Brush egg wash all over the sheet. Paste another sheet on top. Add a slice of smoked duck and a spring onion in the middle. Brush egg wash around the edges, and wrap pastry around duck.
- In a pot of hot oil, deep fry duck pastry until golden brown. Remove and cut into half. Serve.
