June 19, 2020
I developed my recipe for homemade flour wraps with lemon roast chicken, hoisin, scallion, and cilantro out of an intense craving for Peking duck wraps. I had been reminiscing on some of my favorite foods and thought back to one of my more recent experiences enjoying Peking duck when Kevin and I visited his family in Hong Kong. I can’t remember the exact establishment, but I definitely recall the meticulous serving process. The chef wheeled a cart to our table and lifted up a lid to reveal the glistening crispy exterior of a roasted duck. Each movement was reminiscent of a performance. He lifted his knife and with a few meticulous cuts into the whole duck, a plate of perfectly portioned duck meat along with crispy skin was served. We all watched each and every swift movement with close attention. The chef perfectly portioned out the servings of the duck before moving on to demonstrate the steps for enjoying a properly layered Peking duck wrap. The process starts with a piece of ultra-thin pancake, a swipe of plum sauce, a toss of julienned scallions and cilantro, and a topping of duck meat and crispy skin. I loved watching the process while eagerly waiting for my turn to build a wrap. Even thinking back to the experience made me crave Peking duck wraps even more. It has been almost half a year since we last saw Kevin’s family. The combination of missing authentic, nostalgic Chinese food and not knowing when exactly we would be able to see family again made me miss all of the moments we had connecting over good food. My intense cravings for Peking duck and limited access to groceries the last couple of months led me to develop my latest creation – homemade flour wraps with lemon roast chicken, hoisin, scallion, and cilantro. The textures and flavors of my newest creation was very reminiscent of the flavors and textures of Peking duck wraps. I started by roasting a whole chicken following the same way I season my salt and pepper roast chicken and adding the same aromatics and vegetables I use when preparing my garlic lemon roast chicken over vegetables. Roasting a whole chicken is one of the most versatile uses of a whole bird. I get to enjoy roast chicken for dinner, save any remaining chicken for my curried or spicy chicken salad, and reserve the remaining bones to make stock. The concentrated stock can then be transformed into chicken noodle soup the following day or chicken and dumplings. This time around, I roasted my chicken for just a tad longer in the oven to get the ultra-crispy exterior similar to the crispy texture of Peking duck. As the chicken was roasting away in the oven, I prepared a very simple stack of flour wraps, julienned scallions, and fresh cilantro stems from my herb garden to serve with the chicken. With just a drizzle of hoisin sauce served on the side (since I didn’t have any plum sauce on hand), dinner (and a dose of nostalgia) was ready to be served. When my chicken was done roasting, I let it rest for 15 minutes before cutting it up. The result was the most delightful crispy chicken skin and tender chicken meat. I followed the steps from my memory to build the wraps starting with a drizzle of hoisin sauce, a sprinkle of julienned scallions and cilantro, and a topping of chicken meat and crispy skin. Kevin got to enjoy the first wrap. With just one bite, he was completely sold. Kevin, who grew up in Hong Kong, was pleasantly surprised by how good the wraps were. I was very pleased with how easy it was to prepare. The wraps were so good, we ended up making it a few more times over the last couple of months. I just had to share my findings.
For the lemon roast chicken:
· gather the ingredients in my recipe for garlic lemon roast chicken over vegetables
For the flour wraps:
· 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading the dough
· ½ teaspoon baking powder
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
· 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
· ¼-½ cup lukewarm water
· ¼ cup all-purpose flour
· vegetable oil, for frying
For the rest of the wraps:
· 2 stalks scallions
· cilantro, for serving
· hoisin sauce, for serving
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 425°F. Prepare the ingredients in my recipe for garlic lemon roast chicken over vegetables. Leave the whole chicken intact when roasting. Truss the legs of the chicken prior to roasting. Roast the chicken for one hour and thirty minutes. While the chicken is roasting in the oven, prepare the flour wraps.
2) To make the flour wraps, in a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, kosher salt, granulated sugar, and vegetable oil. Gradually add in a quarter cup of lukewarm water, adding more water as needed. Begin kneading the ingredients until a dough is formed. If the dough is too wet, add more flour. If the dough is too dry, add more water. Continue to knead until a pliable dough is formed, about 5 minutes. Place a large plate (or sheet of plastic wrap) over the bowl. Let the dough rest for 30-45 minutes.
3) While the dough is resting, trim off the roots of the stalks of the scallions and julienne the scallions. Trim off longer stems of the cilantro. Set aside the julienned scallions and trimmed cilantro for serving.
4) Once the dough is done resting, lightly flour a working surface. Transfer the dough to the working surface. Use a rolling pin to gently press down and roll out the dough into a thick circle. Use a bench scraper to cut the dough in half vertically. Then, cut the dough in half horizontally until you have four triangular pieces. Cut each of the triangular pieces into three equal pieces util you form twelve total triangular pieces of dough. Roll each piece of dough into a ball. Set aside the balls of dough. To make the wraps, prepare a small bowl of flour using the ¼ cup of all-purpose flour. Sprinkle a small bit of flour onto a surface and begin rolling out the pieces of dough balls into a flat circle one by one onto a lightly floured surface. Continue this process until all dough balls have been rolled into flat circles.
5) Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add a teaspoon of vegetable oil. Once hot, transfer one of the flat circles to the pan. Fry for about 30 seconds on each side. Transfer the fried flour wrap to a plate. Continue this process until all of the wraps have been fried. Set aside.
6) Once the chicken is done roasting, let the chicken cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting into the chicken. When carving the chicken, begin by cutting the legs on both sides, followed by the wings and breasts. Reserve the crispy chicken skin to serve alongside the chicken meat in the wraps.
7) To build the wraps, grab a piece of flour wrap, drizzle on some hoisin sauce, sprinkle on the julienned scallions and cilantro, top with the sliced chicken meat and skin. Fold or roll up the wrap and take a bite.
Takeaways: Save the remaining chicken to make some curried chicken salad or spicy chicken salad. Reserve the chicken bones to make chicken stock. I like to pour the roasted vegetables and juices from the roasted chicken directly into a slow cooker. I then add a few cups of water, a couple sprigs of thyme, a bay leaf, and a few sprigs of parsley to the slow cooker. I close the lid, set the slow cooker to low heat and let the chicken and company cook for anywhere from 8 hours to overnight. The next day, I have some hot chicken stock waiting to be enjoyed. The chicken stock forms the base for chicken noodle soup or chicken and dumplings. Stay tuned for my chicken and dumplings recipe in a future post.
