When we first mention the City of Beijing, everyone could say that the Beijing roast duck and The Great Wall should be the symbol of the city. Scallion, cucumber, lotus leaf pancake, sweet sauce made of fermented flour, oil-bright duck slice… With a slice of duck and pancake, we could live in the divine. 

1. The footprint of Peking 

In the record of the history of Beijing, the restaurant called “Pian Yi Fang” was the first roast duck restaurant opened in the year 1416. From being the snack of the traditional dishes to the loyal dish on state banquet, and to the great dining for the whole world, Beijing roast duck passes the way of success. In 1368, Emperor Zhu stayed in Nan Jing, and the Nan Jing duck first appeared in the world. In 1416, the senator of Emperor moved the capital to Beijing. The cooking style of roast duck thus was brought with the Empire, and the first restaurant “Pian Yi Fang” was opened. In 1864, “Quan Ju De” restaurant started up at the Qianmen Street, and the method of making roast duck could be on the table of normal people. A plethora of famous people in China get into “Quan Ju De” to taste the duck, and since then, the smell of Beijing roast duck appears on every state banquet for China. For now, no whether in New York or Beijing, even in State College, it is so normal to meet a foreigner to eat roast duck with lotus-leaf pancake just as their dish. 

2. How to make a good Beijing Roast Duck?

At first, we should know that the Beijing Roast Duck’s materials are not coming from Beijing. However, it combines four provinces in China for getting a duck and the condiments. For example, the sweet sauce made of fermented flour came from He Bei; the technique for barbecue came from Nanjing; the scallion came from Shandong, etc. Moreover, there is no coincident for Beijing, and Roast duck meets together. Because of the mixing and combination, Beijing Roast duck could survive with the durable life power.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

credit to: Lisi Ai

 

The best season to eat a roast duck is in Fall, because the weather in fall could be utilized to feed the duck with a thick fat layer. The steps to make a roast duck is divided into four phases: Open(开), Hang(挂), grill(烤), Cut(片). Also, if a duck is purplish red after grilled, the duck could not be stinky smell and be ready to eat. The best duck should be cut immediately after getting grilled. To be surprised, a 2kg duck could be split into over 100 slides, and there are strict ways of plate presentation of each part of the duck.