Hoisin duck salad cups (sang choy bao)

Ready in 30 minutes

Serves 8-10 as a starter or 4 as a main

2 duck breasts, skin on

Salt and pepper

2 spring onions, green and white stems, finely shredded lengthwise

2 Tbsp oyster sauce

2 tsp hoisin sauce

2 Tbsp finely chopped chives plus extra to garnish, or 2 very finely sliced spring onions

2 cups bean sprouts, or finely shredded cabbage

¼ cup torn coriander leaves

2 baby cos or little gem lettuces, about

24 leaves

½ red chilli, very finely chopped,

optional

Slash the skin of the duck breasts in a criss-cross pattern, without cutting into the flesh (this helps to release fat). Season on both sides with salt and pepper. Place breasts skin-side down in a heavy frying pan over medium heat and cook until skin is golden and fat has rendered out, about 12-15 minutes. Turn breasts over cook for 3 minutes and then take off the heat (you don’t want the duck too rare for these salad cups). Leave to cool for at least 10 minutes. While duck cooks and cools, place shredded spring onions in a bowl of iced water to curl. Lift duck out of pan and pat with paper towels to remove surface fat. Finely chop duck into a serving bowl and mix in oyster sauce, hoisin sauce and chives or spring onions, reserving a little for garnish.

To serve, separate lettuce leaves and arrange on a platter. Top with a little chopped duck, then pile over bean sprouts, coriander and drained spring onion curls. Garnish plate with extra chives and chilli if using.

NOTE: A delicious dish that can be prepared in advance. You can also make this with 400g coarse pork mince in place of the duck.

Match this with ... Organised Chaos Gamay Noir 2023 ($34)

With its wet spring, cool summer and two cyclones in autumn, the 2023 vintage in Hawke’s Bay made for hair-pulling, knuckle-biting stress. Yet if you were making a lightly styled red out of gamay noir grapes, then you were good as gold. It’s full name is Gamay Noir A Jus Blanc, it’s the grape used to create Beaujolais in France and winemaker Hayden Penny has created a red apple, raspberry and softly spiced style with a soothing, creamy finish. One hundred per cent of the organically-grown berries were put through carbonic maceration, a technique where whole grapes are placed inside a carbon dioxide-rich environment so that the berries begin to ferment inside their own skins. It creates a rich, sweet, character that makes it delish with these spicy duck cups.