Beijing Roast Duck
by Hung Kai

China was one of the first countries to domesticate ducks for the table. Cooking methods include steaming , boiling, stewing, roasting, frying and so on. Historical records show that duck domestication first began in Nagging, then known as Jinling, the capital city of Jiangsu Province. At that time, Jinling was the capital of the early Ming Dynasty. When the capital moved to Beijing, the dish was also brought to Beijing as a delicacy on the imperial menu.

Today, there are two major schools of roast duck preparation, each with its own heritage. The first makes use of a conventional convection oven, in which no flames come into direct contact with the duck. The prime exponent of this technique is the Bianyifang Restaurant in the Chongwenmen district of Beijing, which traces its history back to 1816.

The second and better known method was developed in the imperial kitchens of the Qing Dynasty palace. Among many roast duck restaurants, Quanjude is the most popular. In 1864 Yang Quan Ren, a man who sold chickens and ducks, bought a food shop called De Juquan at Qianmen, one of the most busy and popular streets in Beijing. Yang Quan Ren reversed the three characters of the food shop name to be Quanjude (Repository of All Virtues) and opened his roast duck business. He invited a noted chef who used to serve in the palace to work for his new restaurant. Soon thereafter, Quanjude's reputation spread all over the country and ever since has been associated with Beijing Duck.

Ideally, the duck must be the white Beijing variety. It should be 65 days old when slaughtered and weight two-and-a-half kilograms. Every six hours of the last 20 days of their life, they queue obediently for a force-feeding of highly nutritious mush that thickens the layer of fat under the skin. It takes four days to prepare a duck for the oven.

After plucking, the bird is thoroughly cleaned. Air is pumped into the duck between its skin and flesh to give the skin a rich, crispy texture when the duck is cooked. It is then brushed with a glaze and hung up to dry for 24 hours, to further separate the skin from the meat. When roasting, the duck is filled with water and then hooked on a spit in a huge, round oven which can take up to 20 ducks at a time.

The ducks are roasted in a door-less oven, using non-smoky hardwood fuel, such as peach tree or pear tree wood, to impart a subtle fruity flavor to the skin. The oven is heated to 270 degrees centigrade and the ducks are left to roast for 30-40 minutes, depending on the sizes of the ducks. The ducks must be turned frequently throughout the roasting process to ensure even cooking and to prevent them from burning. From time to time, the chef will unhook a duck and suspend it directly over the fire--usually for no more than 30 seconds.

Beijing Roast Duck is served at over 60 restaurants in Beijing, where the daily consumption of ducks is about 3000. A Beijing duck dinner is more than just a meal--it's a ritual. It begins with the cold appetizers, which are made using the duck's liver, wings, webbing, and eggs. Next come the hot dishes, which include fried duck's heart, tongue, and kidneys.

Normally, the accepted method of eating Beijing roast duck involves holding a wafer-thin pancake in your left hand. You then pick up two or three pieces of meat, which have been cut into two-inch slices. After dipping them into a thick, sweet sauce called "jiang," you place them in the center of the pancake, add some spring onions, fold the pancake-and munch.

Hung Kai lives in Beijing and works as a magazine editor.