This week, I had some colleagues up from NYC and, in addition to working hard, we had a lovely dinner at an Italian steakhouse. Being somewhat contrarian, I ordered the duck. It was fantastic, but HUGE!!! The menu said it was half a duck, but I didn’t connect that that meant they’d serve me HALF A DUCK. It was as big as my face!! Needless to say, I went home with at least a quarter of a duck in a paper bag. Now today, I have a craving for Chinese food, but a refrigerator full of leftovers. I also have about 20 minutes in between conference calls, one egg, some milk, flour, and cabbage…of course, cabbage. Think think think… I once made a cheater’s mu shu chicken with rotisserie chicken, cole slaw mix, and tortillas, so that seemed like a good start.
I know you won’t all have a bag of deliciously cooked duck sitting in your refrigerator, but this fake mu shu technique will work with almost any meaty leftovers.
Lunch is done. Time for another conference call!
So sorry for the bad cell phone photos. I was hungry, Erik wasn’t around, and I needed to get back to work, so I prioritized speed over quality.
Fast and Fake Mu Shu Duck
Makes 1 serving
| Amount | Ingredient | Preparation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 tsp | Olive oil | ||
| A handful or two | Cabbage | Sliced (like this) | Red Fire Farm |
| Some | Leftover cooked duck | Cut into bite-sized pieces. | Davio’s |
| 1-2 tsp | Hoisin sauce | Bottled | |
| 1 | Egg | Red Fire Farm | |
| 2 ounces | Milk | By weight or volume | Shaw Farm |
| 1 ounce | Flour | By weight; about 3 TBsp by volume. | Buckwheat flour from Upinngil Farm |
Directions
- Slice up the cabbage and toss it in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat with a little olive oil.
- While the cabbage is sauteing, chop up your cooked, leftover meat into bite-sized pieces.
- Add the meat to the skillet with the cabbage and cook until the meat is hot and the cabbage is tender.
- While the cabbage/meat filling is cooking, whisk up the egg, milk, and flour to make the crepe batter.
- Once the filling is done, remove it from the pan into a bowl and put the pan back on the heat.
- Pour about half the crepe batter into the hot pan, swirling it around so that the batter evenly coats the bottom of the pan.
- Cook the crepe for about a minute, or until the edges start to brown and curl off the pan. Carefully use a butter knife to loosen it from the pan. If it sticks, let it cook for another 10 seconds or so. Once the crepe releases easily from the pan, work the knife under the middle of the crepe, lift it up, and lay the uncooked side down on the pan.
- Let the second side cook for about 30 seconds and repeat with the remaining batter.
- Mix a teaspoon or so of Hoisin sauce into the filling. Top a crepe with filling and fold it up.
If you want to make more than a single serving of crepes, you can easily increase the batter. The Ratio
