Socca with Duck Confit, Peppery Greens & Plum Sauce (aka Peking Duck Redux)
I’m pretty sure you’re already familiar with Peking duck, the famous roast duck from Beijing that has been prepared since the imperial era. The meat, or rather the crispy skin is served with steamed pancakes, scallions and plum sauce. The diners spread sauce over the pancake and it’s wrapped around the crispy skin with scallions and cucumbers and eaten by hand. And boy, it’s amazing.
Well, you can call this a Frenchman version of Peking duck with a little detour by the Mediterranean, Gascony, and back to China. It won’t earn you frequent-flyer miles though. A mix-match of flavors reminiscent of Peking duck but with a definite French flair to it because of the Mediterranean chickpea pancake (socca) and the duck confit, the plum sauce stays the same. I don’t mess with plum sauce, ever. I think i even added a few strips of lemon confit in there because i’m fun like that.
The socca (nothing to do with soccer) is a star of its own here, a specialty of Nice it’s considered to be a chickpea ‘crepe’ although the street version is rough around the edges and delicious that way, this version makes a wonderful wrapper.
Needless to say, use copious amounts of the crispy duck confit skin in there to mimic the one of Peking duck. Easy. Fun. Delicious.
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Socca with Duck Confit, Peppery Greens & Plum Sauce (aka Peking Duck Redux)
- Makes a bunch
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Socca batter recipe:
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 1 cup warm water
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for cooking
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 or 3 duck leg confit, well-browned and crisp
- watercress
- scallions
- radicchio (optional)
- lemon confit (optional)
- Chinese plum sauce
For the garnish:
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For the socca batter:
- Sift the chickpea flour and all-purpose flours together, add salt and pepper. Make a well in the center and drop the egg. Whisk it into the flour mixture then add the water slowly and then the heavy cream until you obtain a smooth batter. Whisk in the olive oil and reserve until ready to use.
- Heat an 8-inch non-stick pan over medium high heat and drizzle a little olive oil. Pour enough batter to coat the bottom of the pan and swirl it around like if you were making crepes. Cook the socca until it starts to brown on the bottom, flip it and cook it for another minute or so. Repeat and stack them up.
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For the garnish:
- Spread some plum sauce over the chickpea pancakes, garnish with some watercress and scallions. Add chunks of duck confit (meat and crispy skin), roll and eat.
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June 27th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
Glad you cleared that out, the fact that socca has nothing to do with soccer! I won’t say anything about soccer, I don’t wanna upset my little French chef! There’s nothing in this dish that I don’t love!
June 27th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Looks yummy I will need to try this. Thank you.
June 27th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
I love socca and I love pekin duck! The combination looks fabulous!
June 27th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
Word up, the duck is phat!
June 28th, 2010 at 1:41 am
I have been roasting duck these past few days, too, for the cookbook. Your “French” version Peking duck looks great, the skin is so well-browned and glistening!
I reckon roasting duck at home is really quite a technique to acquire, but I am very pleased with the results. Hubz said to me, good duck, and your duck recipe is excellent!
June 28th, 2010 at 7:04 am
Gorgeous finger food and you know these will steal the show during cocktail hour or when the array of appetizers are out.
Lots of textural goodness going on here.
June 28th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
I’ve been on a crêpe kick lately, these will add some nice variety! IT’s funny because I just drove past a Chicago restaurant called Socca the other day and it reminded me that I’ve always wanted to try them.
June 28th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
What a great idea! You combined the two great dishes together, beautifully!
I had socca once in Berkeley but it was more like pizza. They topped it with roasted eggplant and tomatoes and some other stuff, but no cheese. Is that normal?
June 28th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
A great blending of East and West! Come on now, don’t be selfish do you have a duck confit recipe you can share?
June 28th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Wow, everything wonderful rolled up into one delight!
June 29th, 2010 at 1:11 am
God this sounds good.
June 29th, 2010 at 6:19 am
wow, love your “french” version! Looks and sounds even better than the original version.
July 1st, 2010 at 8:47 am
Th3e recipe sounds delicious, and the images are really nice. Great post.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:12 am
Your food looks incredible and is very inspiring. Wish I could get recipes for the three mackerel dishes of your friend! Anyway, love your blog and always look forward to new posts.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Looks gorgeous. Does the socca really need the wheat flour, or could I make it with all chickpea flour? (gluten issues)
July 3rd, 2010 at 1:29 pm
French and soccer in the same sentence seems a bit incongruous these days!
July 4th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
I always love seeing your beautiful dishes. I promise if I make this I will not mess with the plum sauce either!
July 5th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
Isn’t it traditionally hoisin sauce, not plum sauce?
July 13th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Duck confit is my all-time favorite food, and wrapping it some socca sounds like a perfect way to enjoy it. Been thinking of making some gallettes as of late, need to add socca to the list. – S