Peking Duck

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For the breed of duck, see Pekin duck.
Peking Duck

Traditional Chinese: 北京烤鴨
Simplified Chinese: 北京烤鸭
Literal meaning: Beijing Roast Duck

Peking Duck, or Peking Roast Duck is a famous duck dish from Beijing that has been prepared since the Yuan Dynasty, and is now considered one of China's national foods.

The dish is prized for the thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the diners by the cook. Ducks are bred specially for the dish, which after 65 days are slaughtered and seasoned before being roasted in a closed oven or a hung oven. The meat is often eaten with pancakes, spring onions, and hoisin sauce or sweet noodle sauce. A variant of the dish known as crispy aromatic duck has been created by the Chinese community in the United Kingdom. The two most notable restaurants in Beijing which serve this delicacy are Quanjude and Bianyifang, two centuries-old establishments which have become household names.

Contents

[edit] History

Duck has been roasted in China since the Southern and Northern Dynasties.[1] Peking Duck was first prepared for the Emperor of China in the Yuan Dynasty. The dish, originally named "Shaoyazi" (燒鴨子), was mentioned in the Complete Recipes for Dishes and Beverages (飲膳正要) manual by Hu Sihui (忽思慧), an inspector of the imperial kitchen in 1330.[2][3] In the Ming Dynasty, the Peking Duck was one of the main dishes on imperial court menus.[4] In the same period, the first restaurant specialising in Peking Duck, Bianyifang, was established in the Xianyukou, Qianmen area of Beijing in 1416.[5]

By the Qianlong Period (1736-1796) of the Qing Dynasty, the popularity of the Peking Duck spread to the upper classes, inspiring poetry from poets and scholars who enjoyed the dish. For instance, one of the verses of Duan Zhu Zhi Ci, a collection of Beijing poems was, "Fill your plates with roast duck and suckling pig".[6] In 1864, the Quanjude (全聚德) restaurant was established in Beijing. Yang Quanren (楊全仁), the founder of Quanjude, developed the hung oven to roast ducks. With its innovations and efficient management, the restaurant became well known in China, introducing the Peking Duck to the rest of the world.[7]

By the mid 20th century, the Peking Duck had become a national symbol of China, favoured by tourists and diplomats alike. For example, Henry Kissinger, the Secretary of State of the United States met Premier Zhou Enlai in the Great Hall of the People on July 10, during his first visit to China. After a round of inconclusive talks in the morning, the delegation was served Peking Duck for lunch, which became Kissinger's favourite. The Americans and Chinese issued a joint statement the following day, inviting President Richard Nixon to visit China in 1972. The Peking Duck was hence considered one of the factors behind the rapproachement of the United States to China in the 1970s. Following Zhou's death in 1976, Kissinger paid another visit to Beijing to savour Peking Duck.[8][9]

[edit] Preparation

A Pekin Duck.
A Pekin Duck.

[edit] Raising the duck

The ducks used to prepare Peking Duck originated from Nanjing. Those mallards were small and had black feathers, and lived in the canals linking strategic rivers. With the relocation of the Chinese capital to Beijing, supply barges spilt a large amount of grain on which the ducks fed. As a result, the ducks slowly increased in size and grew white feathers. By the Five Dynasties, the new species of duck had been domesticated by Chinese farmers.[10] Nowadays, Peking Duck is prepared from the Pekin Duck (Anas platyrhynchos domestica).[11] Newborn ducks are raised in a free range environment for the first 45 days of their lives, and force fed 4 times a day for the next 15–20 days, resulting in ducks that weigh 5–7 kg.[12] The force feeding of the ducks led to an alternate name for the dish, Peking Stuffed Duck (simplified Chinese: 北京填鸭; traditional Chinese: 北京填鴨; pinyin: běijīng tián yā).[13]

A Peking Duck being roasted by a hung oven circa 1933.
A Peking Duck being roasted by a hung oven circa 1933.

[edit] Cooking

Fattened ducks are slaughtered, feathered, eviscerated and rinsed thoroughly with water.[7] Air is pumped under the skin through the neck cavity to separate the skin from the fat.[14] The duck is then soaked in boiling water for a short while before it is hung up to dry.[15] While it is hung, the duck is glazed with a layer of maltose syrup, and the innards are rinsed once more with water. Having left to stand for 24 hours,[16] the duck is roasted in an oven until it turns shiny brown.[17]

Peking Duck is traditionally roasted in either a closed oven or hung oven. The closed oven is built of brick and fitted with metal griddles (Chinese: 箅子; pinyin: bì zi). The oven is preheated by burning Gaoliang wood (Chinese: 秫秸; pinyin: shú jiē) at the base. The duck is placed in the oven immediately after the fire burns out, allowing the meat to be slowly cooked through the convection of heat within the oven.[7][18]

The hung oven was developed in the imperial kitchens during the Qing Dynasty and adopted by the Quanjude restaurant chain. It is designed to roast up to 20 ducks at the same time with an open fire fuelled by hardwood from peach or pear trees.[7][16] The ducks are hung on hooks above the fire and roasted at a temperature of 270 °C (525 °F) for 30–40 minutes. While the ducks are cooking, the chef may use a pole to dangle each duck closer to the fire for 30 second intervals.[16]

Besides the traditional methods to prepare Peking duck, recipes have been compiled by chefs around the world to produce the dish at home.[14][15]

[edit] Serving

A Quanjude chef slicing roasted Peking Duck.
A Quanjude chef slicing roasted Peking Duck.

The cooked Peking Duck is traditionally carved in front of the diners and served in three stages. First, the skin is served dipped in sugar and garlic sauce. The meat is then served with steamed pancakes (Chinese: 荷叶饼, 荷葉餅; pinyin: héyè bǐng, literally lotus leaf pancakes), scallions and sweet noodle sauce. Several vegetable dishes are provided to accompany the meat, typically cucumber and carrot sticks. The diners spread sauce, and optionally sugar, over the pancake. The pancake is wrapped around the meat with the vegetables and eaten by hand. The remaining fat, meat and bones may be made into a broth. Otherwise, they are packed up to be taken home by the customers.[19][20][21]

[edit] Reheating

Whole Peking Ducks can be ordered as takeaways. The ducks can be reheated at home with an oven, grill or boiling oil. When an oven is used, the duck is heated at a temperature of 150 °C (300 °F) for 20 minutes, and then at 160 °C (325 °F) for another 10 minutes. The grilling method involves filling the duck with boiling water before placing it on a griddle, 70 cm (28 in) above the cooking fire. The boiling water is replaced every 3–4 minutes until the duck's skin is piping hot. To reheat the Peking Duck with oil, the duck is sliced into thin pieces and placed in a strainer held over a wok of boiling oil. The duck is then rinsed several times with the oil.[21]

[edit] Notable restaurants

A number of restaurants in China specialises in Peking Duck. Examples include Quanjude, Bianyifang, Changan Yihao (長安一號), Beijing Xiaowangfu (北京小王府) and Dadong Tuanjiehu Kaoyadian (大董團結湖烤鴨店).[22] Some restaurants, in particular Quanjude and Bianyifang, have long histories of serving high quality duck that they are now household names, or laozihao (老字號), literally "old brand name".[23] In addition, Quanjude has received worldwide recognition, having been named a China Renowned Trademark in 1999.[24]

[edit] Crispy Aromatic Duck

Crispy aromatic duck is a variant of Peking duck that originated from the Chinese community in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 20th century,[25] served by most Chinese restaurants as a signature dish on the menu.[26] To prepare crispy aromatic duck, the duck is first rubbed inside and out with a mixture of spices including five spice powder and Sichuan peppercorns. Having left to stand for 24 hours, the duck is placed into a wok and steamed for two hours, with the fat constantly poured off. Afterwards, the duck is cut into quarters and dusted with corn flour and deep fried for 8–15 minutes. The cooked duck is drained on kitchen paper and taken to the diners' table, where the meat is shredded off. The meat is served with pancakes, finely chopped cucumber and spring onions and hoisin sauce.[27] The meat has less fat, but is drier and crispier compared to that of Peking Duck.[28]

[edit] References

  1. ^ 品味北京五大百年名吃 (500 year old delicacies of Beijing) (Traditional Chinese). Xingchen Food Network. China News Information Centre (2006-09-22). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  2. ^ 北京特產 (Specialties of Beijing) (Traditional Chinese). Xinhua (2004-04-08). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  3. ^ Slicing through the secrets of Peking Duck. Adelaide Review (2005). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  4. ^ History of the Peking Duck. SilkRoad. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  5. ^ Zhang, Jackie (2007-06-29). New locations for Qianmen’s traditional restaurants. Beijing Today. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  6. ^ Peking Duck Information. China Internet Information Center. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  7. ^ a b c d 京城烤鴨及其製法 (Peking Duck and how to prepare it) (Traditional Chinese). Epoch Times (2006-02-13). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  8. ^ Premier Zhou's roast duck diplomacy (周总理的烤鸭外交) (Simplified Chinese). Quanjude. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
  9. ^ Interview with Ambassador Winston Lord. George Washington University. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
  10. ^ Davidson, Alan (1999). Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 593. 
  11. ^ Li, Ping-Wei; Wei Liu, Gen-Pei Li, Rong-Huan Zhu, Da-Cheng Wang (2001). "Overexpression, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase from Peking duck". Acta Crystallographica 57 (11): 1646–1649. doi:10.1107/S0907444901011106. 
  12. ^ The origins of Chinese Roast Duck (访古探幽：中国烤鸭的由来) (Simplified Chinese). Sing Tao (2005-12-31). Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
  13. ^ Recipe for Peking Stuffed Duck (Simplified Chinese). 美食菜系. Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
  14. ^ a b Bryant, Simon. Peking Duck 101. ABC Adelaide. Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
  15. ^ a b Preparing a Peking Duck. Notes from a Devon Kitcen (1998-03-02). Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
  16. ^ a b c Quanjude Roast Duck. Golden Lawyer. Retrieved on 2007-09-14.
  17. ^ Bejing cuisine: Peking Duck Recipe (北京菜: 北京烤鴨) (Traditional Chinese). Social Work Hong Kong (2001-04-27). Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
  18. ^ Bianyifang Duck. China Travel Service. Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
  19. ^ The Evolution of Peking Duck. CBS (2006-09-24). Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
  20. ^ Liang, Shih-Chiu. "Roast duck" (烧鸭). in Jiang H. (ed.) Liang Shiqiu's Selected Proses (2000). Hangzhou:Zhejiang Literary Press. ISBN 7-5339-0562-9
  21. ^ a b How to reheat a takeaway Peking Duck(外卖烤鸭如何加热). Hainan News Network. Xinhua (2005-04-27). Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
  22. ^ Top 5 places to dine on Peking Duck (吃北京烤鸭最HIGH的5大去处) (Simplified Chinese). Northern Net. Xinhua (2004-08-25). Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
  23. ^ Chen, Nan (2006-04-14). Old Name, New Experience. Beijing This Month. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
  24. ^ Quanjude puts duck on the stock-market menu. Shanghai Daily. Sina (2007-09-27). Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  25. ^ Recipe Ideas For Chinese Pancakes. Ming Foods. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  26. ^ Savour the success from aromatic. Cherry Valley. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  27. ^ Hom, Ken. Recipe for crispy aromatic duck. BBC. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
  28. ^ Peking Duck. Beijing Made Easy. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links