What Peking Duck Tells Us about the History of China 北京烤鸭

Image credit: WikipediaIt is often said that the three must do things in Beijing are climb the Great Wall, visit the Forbidden City, and eat Peking duck 🦆 Most people would be satisfied once they've done the Great Wall and Forbidden City but they can never have enough of Peking duck 😄 What makes the iconic Peking duck so special? The Bird Peking duck is made with a specific breed of duck known as "Pekin duck" known for its fine and tender meat. It is a white feathered bird, first bred over 1000 years ago in the 玉泉山 Jade Spring Mountain district near Peking, hence the name "Pekin duck". After the raising the bird for 30 days, the duck is manually fed with special feed for 10 days to fatten it. The duck is called "Pekin stuffed duck" 北京填鸭 because of the manual fattening process. Ducks ready for the kitchen weigh around 3.2 kilos each. (During the early Ming era when Nanjing was the capital, a different breed was used. It was a black feathered bird. When the Ming dynasty moved its capital to Beijing in 1420, the present breed of white Pekin duck was used as it was hard to get the black feathered duck in the new capital.)  Preparation The Peking duck is gutted not by opening its tail end but by cutting a slit under one of the wings. The innards are removed through this slit. The bird is then blown up like a balloon. Nowadays, it is blown up by pumping in compressed air but in the past, the chef blew up the duck with his own breath (just like blowing up a party balloon). The purpose of blowing up the duck is to separate the skin from the fat and meat. The air gap gives the roasted duck crispier skin.

The cleaned and blown up duck is bathed with boiling water. The duck is next bathed with maltose syrup, hung up with a hook and air dried.Some restaurants roast the duck after the maltose bath has dried. Others further marinate the bird by rubbing a blend of Chinese 5-spice, soy sauce etc outside and inside the cavity.(Traditionally, stock and Chinese cooking wine are poured into the cavity through the slit which is opened to remove the innards. So, while the outside of the duck is being roasted, the inside is cooked by boiling stock and wine.)

Two Roasting Traditions - Ming vs Qing | Bianyifang vs Quanjude Image credit: WikipediaThere are two different techniques of roasting Peking duck - closed or open roast. Closed Roast Ming dynasty palace in Nanjing. Image credit: WikipediaThe closed roast method originated from the Ming dynasty. Before there was Peking duck, there was 片皮鸭 sliced duck (also known as 叉烧鸭 char siew duck) in Nanjing during the Ming dynasty. Sliced duck was roasted on a spit over wooden flames one at a time. As emperor Zhu Di held many banquets at the palace, the palace chefs had to find a way to produce many sliced ducks quickly. They came up with the closed roast method where several ducks were roasted at once in a huge closed brick oven fired by embers of sorghum hay. When the temperature is right inside the brick oven, the ducks are hanged inside and the oven is shut tight. The ducks are close roasted at 220°C - 250°C for 45 - 60 minutes. In the closed roast technique, no flame is used. The duck meat is tender and juicy. The skin is crisp but moist underneath as much of its fat is retained.

Image credit: WikipediaThe closed roast technique became the mainstream during the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644). Bianyifang 便宜坊 founded in 1416 is the oldest Peking duck restaurant in the world. Bianyifang uses the Ming era closed roast technique (albeit with contemporary electric and gas ovens).

Forbidden City of Peking. Image credit: WikipediaWhen emperor Zhu Di moved the Ming capital from Nanjing to Peking in 1420, the sliced duck dish followed and was renamed Peking duck. Open Roast When the Ming dynasty fell to the Manchu Qing (in 1644), the Peking duck dish was changed from closed roast to roasting over open flames. That's because the Manchurians being nomads traditionally roast their meats in the open. To be able to cook for banquets, the Qing palace chefs created the large roasting room where the chef can roast several ducks in one go. The duck is roasted by hanging it over the flames of burning peach, pear or apple wood in a brick oven with windows. To ensure that the ducks are evenly grilled, the chef constantly turn and move them about inside the oven using a long pole through a window. Roasting this way over an open flame at 200°C takes 50 - 60 minutes. Open roasted ducks have a subtle smokiness and fruity aroma. Open roasted ducks also tend to be more crispy, less greasy compared to closed (oven) roasted ducks. Closed or open roast, the Peking duck is done when its skin is glistening with grease and reddish golden brown outside. The roasted duck is sometimes given an additional glaze before serving.

Image credit: WikipediaQuanjude Roast Duck Restaurant, the most famous Peking duck place in the world was founded in 1864. It was founded during the reign of the Qing emperor Tongzhi. Till today, Quanjude still use the Qing dynasty style open roast technique. Peking Duck Carving Art Image credit: WikipediaTraditionally, the roasted duck is skilfully sliced into exactly 108 pieces, each with skin, fat and meat. Slicing is done at the table and the performance is one of the defining highlights of eating Peking duck. The duck is sliced while it is still piping hot, so the skin is crisp and aroma rises to the air with each cut. But, why 108 slices?

Image credit: WikipediaAccording to legend, during the Song dynasty (960 - 1279), a troop of 108 hungry warriors stopped over at a restaurant. The restaurant was about to close for the day and had only one duck left. So the kitchen roasted the single duck and the waiter sliced it into 108 pieces of skin, fat and meat which each of the 108 warriors ate with a bun. Though each slice comes from a different part of the duck, they are all around the same size and thickness, all have crispy skin, juicy fat, moist tender meat. That takes a lot of skill and intimate knowledge of the duck. Peking Duck Custom & Etiquette Image credit: WikipediaToday, the Peking duck is still sliced into 108 pieces and is usually eaten with a tissue thin wheat flour crepe wrapping the slice of duck, julienned spring onion and a dribble of sweet savoury fermented bean paste sauce. 

Between servings of Peking duck, a stick of crunchy refreshing raw cucumber is eaten as a palate cleanser for the next piece of duck.

Image credit: WikipediaOf course, there are many variations and each restaurant have their own signature style. Some restaurants serve their Peking duck with thicker crepe, pancake, flat bread, steamed buns, and others with baked buns.

Image credit: WikipediaThere are also different styles of slicing. The most common cut is apricot leaf slice 杏叶片 which is broad and thin. The slender willow leaf slice 柳叶片 was suggested by Premier Zhou En Lai (man in the middle) after he observed that some foreign dignitaries struggled with the bigger slices. Peking duck diplomacy has been a Chinese way to win friends (since the Ming dynasty). US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was hosted to a Peking duck lunch during his first secret visit to China in 1971. He fell in love with the dish, paving the way for the visit by President Nixon in 1972. President Nixon had Peking duck, as did every American president who visited Beijing.

Image credit: National Archives of SingaporeSingapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was hosted to a Peking duck dinner during his visit to China in 1980.

Image credit: WikipediaSkin and meat can be served in separate slices.

Image credit: WikipediaEating the duck with just sugar is popularised by 梅兰芳 Mei Lanfang (1894 - 1961), a renown Peking opera artiste. Mei Lanfang was very careful about protecting his vocal cords, so he avoided sauces and spicy food.

Singapore Prime Minister hosted to Peking duck dinner in Beijing in 1980. Image credit: National Archives of Singapore The duck head is given to the most senior person at the table. The duck brain is considered its choicest part. The two small pieces of meat attached to the duck's lower back near the hip - tender and moist, are given to the youngest lady at the table as a sign of respect. The duck tail (gland removed) is given to the youngest man at the table to wish him career success. The remaining duck meat and bones (known as duck frame) are used to make a soup with seasonal vegetables. Alternatively, it is stir fried with sauce and vegetables or made into duck porridge. Open roast or closed roast? Nothing is stopping anyone to indulge in both traditions. It's a perfect excuse to eat more Peking duck 😋 Don't limit yourself to Quanjude or Bianyifang - ask locals for suggestions and try out the local people's favourites too.

Warmly welcome your insights and suggestions of good places to enjoy Peking duck. Please share in the comments. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shane (@shanej2907) on Jan 8, 2020 at 6:12am PST Restaurant name: Quanjude Roast Duck 全聚德王府井店Address: 9 Shuaifuyuan Hutong, Wangfujing, Dongcheng, Beijing, China, 100005Tel: +861065253310 View this post on Instagram A post shared by @0c0meken on Jan 26, 2019 at 8:08am PST Restaurant name: Bianyifang Roast Duck 便宜坊烤鸭店Address: 65 - 77, Xianyukou Street, Dongcheng, Beijing, China, 100051Tel: +861067132536 Reference: Peking Duck as a Museum Spectacle Date: 15 Jun 2020