Beijing has a large selection of unique culinary dishes, but the most famous is undoubtedly Beijing Roast Duck. The dish is a gastronomic delight and is as beautiful as it is delicious. Only ducks with very little body fat are used and they are cooked to a golden brown and have a crispy skin and tender moist meat. No China tour to Beijing is complete without trying this exquisite dish.
History
Beijing Roast Duck has its origins in the Southern Song Dynasty (420-478). The dish was introduced to Beijing in the Yuan Dynasty (1270-1368) when it became a regular part of the imperial menu. It was named Beijing Roast Duck during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and until this period, it was only eaten by royalty and the upper class. Once the recipe leaked out, it became incredibly popular with the local populace and has remained so for hundreds of years.
How to eat Beijing Roast Duck
After ordering your roast duck, it is cut into over one hundred pieces before being served to guests. The ducks are cut so that each piece of tender moist meat has some of the crispy skin still attached to it. The meat is served with several condiments. First the customer picks up a thin wrapper and brushes some of the special sauce onto it. Then some of the duck meat, thin slices of green onion and cucumber are placed onto the wrapper and it is rolled up and eaten. Another popular way that Beijing Roast Duck is eaten is to take a hollowed out sesame bun and fill it with sliced garlic, cucumber, and duck meat. Either way, this dish is truly unforgettable.
Beijing Best Roast Duck Restaurants
Beijing is home to many wonderful roast duck restaurants, but two, Quanjude and Bianyifang, stand out for their history, service, and deliciousness. Both the Quanjude and Bianyifang roast duck restaurants have their own recipe for cooking Beijing Roast Duck.
Quanjude
The most famous Beijing duck restaurant, Quanjude takes whole ducks and marinates them in their own secret marinade before hanging them over a wood fire. Date and pear wood is used because the aroma of their smoke helps flavor the meat. The restaurant was established in 1864, and has created over 400 different dishes each made from duck. It has restaurants throughout Beijing and has been visited by many government leaders and officials from almost 100 different countries.
Bianyifang
The cooking technique at Bianyifang is completely different from Quanjude. They take a whole duck and fill it with soup before roasting. This way the duck is roasted and crispy on the outside and boiled and juicy on the inside. Their ducks are then cooked in a closed oven which utilizes corn stalks to cook and smoke the duck. The restaurant was established in 1855, nine years before Quanjude and offers a large selection of unique duck dishes.
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