This duck spice bag recipe came about after a weekend trip to Leeds for some holiday shopping.
While we were there, we stopped at Trinity Kitchen and decided to try Dole Spice Bags. Spice bags are an Irish favourite that have thankfully made their way over here, basically a glorious mixture of crispy chips, meat or a meat alternative, sauce, vegetables and seasoning all thrown together.
I went for the vegan Irish Spice Bag, sometimes called a Dirty Bag, while Debs had the Crispy Aromatic Duck Bag. Both were absolutely delicious.
The only problem was that we knew it might be a while before we were back in Leeds.
A few days later, on the way home from work, I had the idea of trying to recreate the crispy duck spice bag for Debs. I called into Aldi, picked up what I needed and gave it a go.
Apparently it was pretty close to the real thing, which earned me some proper brownie points.
The method is really simple and works just as well with crispy duck, chicken or plant-based pieces. I used plant-based No Chicken Pieces for mine.
Easy Duck Spice Bag Recipe
Serves: 2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Calories: approximately 800 kcal per portion using plant-based pieces
Ingredients
- 500g skin-on fries
- 240g crispy duck, chicken or plant-based No Chicken Pieces
- 150g hoisin sauce
- ½ cucumber, peeled and finely sliced
- 5–6 spring onions, finely sliced
- Sesame seeds, lightly toasted
- A little oil, for frying
You can use any chips you like, but I find skin-on fries work particularly well because they go really crispy and stand up better once everything is mixed together.
How to Make a Duck Spice Bag
- Cook the chips according to the packet instructions until they're properly golden and crispy.
- While the chips are cooking, heat a little oil in a frying pan and gently cook your duck, chicken or plant-based pieces. If you're using raw meat, make sure it's completely cooked through.
- Once cooked, reduce the heat and add the hoisin sauce. Stir everything together and warm gently until the pieces are completely coated.
- Add most of the toasted sesame seeds and give everything another quick stir.
- Take the pan off the heat, then add the cucumber and spring onions. Toss them through the hoisin mixture. Adding them right at the end keeps a bit of freshness and crunch.
- Add the crispy chips and gently toss everything together. You want the chips lightly coated in hoisin rather than completely soaked in it.
- Divide between two bowls or plates and finish with the remaining toasted sesame seeds.
- Serve straight away while the chips are still crispy.
Duck, Chicken or Plant-Based?
Although this started out as an attempt to recreate the Crispy Aromatic Duck Spice Bag we had in Leeds, the recipe is very easy to adapt.
Crispy aromatic duck is the obvious choice, especially if you can find one of the ready-to-cook packs in the supermarket. Chicken works perfectly well too, while plant-based chicken-style pieces make a really good vegetarian or vegan version. Just check that your hoisin sauce is suitable if you're keeping the whole thing vegan.
The important bit is the combination of crispy chips, sticky hoisin, spring onion, cucumber and toasted sesame. It's ridiculously simple, but it works.
A Few Notes
Don't add the cucumber and spring onions too early. They only need tossing through once the pan is off the heat, otherwise the cucumber starts to soften and you lose the contrast with the hot chips and sticky sauce.
Likewise, get the chips as crispy as you can before adding them. Once the hoisin goes on, they'll naturally soften a little, so starting with properly crisp fries makes a big difference.
The calorie figure is only a rough estimate because fries, hoisin sauce and whichever duck, chicken or plant-based pieces you use can vary quite a lot. My plant-based version comes out at roughly 800 kcal per portion. A version made with crispy aromatic duck may be a little higher.
Is it exactly the same as the one from Dole Spice Bags? Probably not. But it was close enough to bring back memories of our lunch in Leeds, it took about 25 minutes from start to finish and, most importantly, Debs loved it, and we had it two days in a row.
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