Description: More than a meal, a Beijing Duck is a symbol. A symbol of a far gone imperial era. A symbol of dishes designed to symbolize status. A symbol of institutionalized discrimination. A symbol of yet another futile attempt to reach an inexistent perfection. This is what makes a Beijing Duck an essential part of any visit to the
Middle Kingdom’s Northern Capital. Experiencing the symbol doesn’t mean accepting the ideas represented by it; doing that only adds another layer – culinary in this case – to our capability to understand the culture that created it.
Moreover, after a morning visit to the nearby
Purple Forbidden City and
Tiananmen Square, stopping for a dish which had been eaten by the emperor seems suitable.
Approaching such a meal without proper preparation is almost a sin; otherwise the details surrounding the preparation and serving of the dish would go unnoticed. Duck is a popular meat in
Asia; the Imperial version differs from the myriad dishes served in countless markets only in these details.
QuanjudeThe
Qianmen Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant is recommended for its superb location near the city’s main sights and the establishment’s long history. More important, the dish is prepared in front of the customer and thus the little secrets are exposed.
HistoryBeijing Duck was first prepared for the emperor in the Yuan Dynasty and was mentioned in the Complete Recipes for Dishes and Beverages manual by Hu Sihui, an imperial kitchen inspector in 1330. During the Ming Dynasty, Beijing Duck was a main dish on the imperial menus. The Quanjude Restaurant was opened in 1864.
Maltose LacqueredNewborn ducks are allowed to grow in a free environment for their first forty-five days and afterwards force-fed four times a day for the next twenty days.
After having been slaughtered and cleaned, air is pumped under the skin through the neck to separate the skin from the fat, and then the duck is soaked in boiling water for a short period of time before it is hung up to dry. The duck is then lacquered with maltose syrup, and the innards are rinsed once more with water; after being left like that for twenty-four hours, the duck is ready to be cooked.
Once at the restaurant, the duck is roasted on an open fire in front of the customer’s eyes. The fire is made out of fruit-wood; a process which gives some of the wood fruity aroma to the meat and creates the characteristically crispy skin the dish is so prized for.
After being cooked, the duck is sliced in front of the diners; the cutting process is an art, each chunk contains skin, fat and meat, but no bones. The duck is very fat and the skin, although skillfully treated, adds even more fat to the mix, but the meat, as always with duck, is excellent and allows tasting the different ingredients and steps of the cooking process.
Alternative ServingAn alternative way of serving it separates the duck into parts. The skin is served first dipped in sugar and garlic sauce. Then, the meat is then served with steamed pancakes, scallions, vegetables and sweet sauce. The diner spreads then the sweet sauce over the pancake, adds meat and vegetables, and wraps it before taking a sweet bite of it. The remaining parts are served in a broth.
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