PANCAKES IN UK RECIPES

1. Peking duck is something that has always been very close to the Oliver family. Bizarrely enough, the fact that my parents ran a pub restaurant meant that we very rarely went out for dinner as a family, but when we did, my old man used to take us out to this Chinese restaurant in Sawbridgeworth where we all fell in love with Peking duck.
2. There are hundreds of ways of cooking duck in Asian cultures – steamed, roasted, pumped up with bicycle pumps to remove the meat from the skin – but we're at home and so we can't do with all this mucking about. My way is simple and it works...
3. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/gas 3. Rub a nice 1.2kg duck with loads of salt, inside and out. Dust the bird all over with five-spice and, if you've got any, grate some fresh ginger and rub it round the cavity, leaving the ginger inside to flavour. Place the duck in a roasting tray and put it in the oven. All you need to do is check on it every so often and spoon away the excess fat that has rendered out of the duck. This will make the skin go wonderfully crispy. Generally, after a couple of hours it will be perfect – the leg meat will pull off the bone and the skin will be wonderfully crisp. You don't always need to, but I sometimes turn the heat up to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6 for a short while until it's really crispy.
4. While this beautiful bird is cooking, you can make your plum sauce. Chuck 10 or 12 destoned plums into a pan with 5 tablespoons of sugar, a couple of pinches of five-spice, a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce, half a teaspoon of chilli powder and a splash of water. Bring to the boil, then simmer until you get a nice shiny pulp. You can remove the plum skins if you want to, but I usually leave them in. Sometimes I add a little grated orange zest, as this goes well with duck. Put the sauce to one side to cool before serving it, and taste to check the seasoning.
5. As for the spring onions and cucumber, that's straightforward. Use half a cucumber and a bunch of spring onions and finely slice them. I strongly advise buying a couple of packs of pre-made pancakes which you can place in a steamer or microwave and slowly steam until nice and hot. The bamboo steamers are only a few quid from Chinese supermarkets, so it's worth getting hold of some and they're great to serve at the table.
6. Once the duck has cooled a little bit, use two forks to shred all the meat off the carcass. I remember the Chinese lady at the restaurant in Sawbridgeworth doing this. You can do the same, putting all the meat with its crispy skin on to a serving plate. Take a pancake, place some duck, a bit of spring onion, a little cucumber and a dollop of plum sauce on to it, then roll it up – lovely.

1. To make the batter, crack the egg into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the flour, milk and a tiny pinch of sea salt.
3. Whisk everything together until you have a lovely, smooth batter.
4. Fold through the blueberries, if using.
5. Put a large frying pan on a medium heat and after a minute or so, add ½ tablespoon of oil.
6. Carefully tilt the pan to spread the oil out evenly.
7. Add a few ladles of batter to the pan, leaving enough space between each one so they have room to spread out slightly – each ladleful will make one pancake, and you’ll need to cook them in batches.
8. Cook the pancakes for 1 to 2 minutes, or until little bubbles appear on the surface and the bases are golden, then use a fish slice to carefully flip them over.
9. When the pancakes are golden on both sides, use a fish slice to transfer the pancakes to a plate.
10. Repeat steps 5 to 9 with the remaining batter, adding ½ tablespoon of oil to the pan between batches, if needed.
11. Serve the pancakes straight away, topped with a dollop of natural yoghurt, and some extra berries, if you like.

1. Measure the flour, baking powder and sugar into a large bowl and add the orange zest. Mix together, then make a well in the centre and add the egg and half the milk. Beat well, with a whisk, until you have a smooth thick batter, then beat in enough of the remaining milk to make a batter the consistency of thick pouring cream.

2. Heat a little oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Drop the batter in dessertspoonfuls into the hot pan, spacing each dollop of the mixture well apart to allow it to spread. Cook for about 2 minutes or until bubbles start to appear on the surface, then turn over with a non-stick blunt-ended palette knife or spatula, and cook on the other side for a further 30–60 seconds or until lightly golden brown on both sides.

3. Use the palette knife to lift the scones on to a wire rack, then cover them with a clean tea towel to keep them soft and warm. Continue more scones in the same way with the remaining, adding a splash more oil if the pan gets too dry.

4. Serve at once spread with butter, syrup or honey, or with Greek yoghurt and blueberries or raspberries or other seasonal fruits.

Cook time: 2-3 minutes per batch.

Prepare Ahead:

Can be made up to 6 hours ahead and reheated to serve. Arrange in a single layer on a baking tray, cover tightly with foil and warm through in a moderate oven for about 10 minutes.

Freeze: The drop scones freeze well (see tip); defrost and warm through as above.

Mary’s Classic Tip:
* Before freezing the drop pancakes, wrap them in greaseproof paper and pack in a freezer-proof container to prevent them getting damaged edges.