Introduce
Popular Science China "Science Encyclopedia"
Peking duck
Peking duck is a famous Beijing dish with a worldwide reputation. It originated in the Southern and Northern Dynasties of China. Roasted duck was recorded in the "Food Records". It was a famous dish in the palace at that time. The ingredients are high-quality meat ducks, roasted over fruit wood charcoal fire, with a ruddy color, fat but not greasy meat, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Peking duck is divided into two major schools, and the most famous roast duck restaurants in Beijing are representatives of the two schools. It is known as "the most delicious food in the world" for its bright red color, tender meat, mellow taste, fat but not greasy characteristics.
History
Peking duck originated in the Ming Dynasty and was originally called "pepper skin duck".
Early Ming Dynasty
In the early Ming Dynasty, the common people loved Nanjing duck, and the emperor loved it too. It is said that Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty "ate a roast duck every day". The imperial chefs in the palace tried every means to develop new ways to eat duck dishes to please the emperor, so they developed two types of roast duck: barbecued duck and braised duck. "Quanjude" is the representative of barbecued duck, while "Bianyifang" is the most famous for braised duck. Jinling roast duck uses fat grass duck as raw material, and the net weight is required to be around 2.5 kilograms.
In 1864
In 1864, the most famous Beijing roast duck restaurant, Quanjude, opened for business, and the roast duck technology developed to the "hanging oven" era. It is roasted with fruit wood fire and has a special fragrance. Not only does it make the roast duck fragrant, but it also makes "Beijing roast duck" replace "Nanjing roast duck", while "Jinling roast duck" can only be seen on the menus of several large southern cities such as Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou.
Cooking
Peking duck cooking tutorial
Cooking tutorial
1. Choosing duck: Choose high-quality ducks with plump meat and fair skin, usually Beijing duck (the raw material for Beijing Peking duck).
2. Cleaning and preparation: After the duck is cleaned, it is stuffed with seasonings such as scallions, ginger, cinnamon, etc., and sometimes coated with sweet bean sauce.
3. Hanging and baking: The duck is hung in a special oven and roasted over a fruit charcoal fire. During this process, the temperature of the oven and the distance of the duck are the key to ensure golden skin and tender meat.
4. Slice and Serve: After roasting, the duck is sliced into thin slices, usually including skin, meat and a small amount of cartilage. It is usually served with scallions, sweet noodle sauce and pancakes, and customers can add other side dishes according to their personal taste.
How to eat
A very famous traditional Chinese delicacy
1.Sliced Duck
Peking duck needs to be sliced on the spot by a professional chef before eating. The chef will slice the golden and crispy duck skin and duck meat into thin slices.
2.Prepare the ingredients
Pancake: used to wrap the duck meat and other ingredients. Sweet noodle sauce: used as a condiment to add flavor. Scallion shreds and cucumber strips: provide a refreshing taste and color.
3.How to eat
Roll up the pancake to enclose the ingredients and duck meat so that you can better taste the flavors of each ingredient.
Culture
Cultural Features
Beijing roast duck is famous for its strict selection of ingredients, fine roasting technology, unique flavor and diverse ways of eating. It has the characteristics of beautiful appearance, crispy skin and tender meat, fat but not greasy, and the combination of chopped green onions and sauces makes it unique in Chinese cuisine. As one of the classics of Beijing cuisine, Beijing roast duck has many roasting methods. The most flavorful ones are the stewed oven roast duck represented by Bianyifang and the hanging oven roast duck represented by Quanjude. In particular, Quanjude uses the method of direct roasting with hard fruit wood such as jujube, peach and apricot, which makes the finished product ruddy and bright, the duck meat is more crispy, and exudes a rich roasted aroma and fruity fragrance.
When tasting roast duck, the taste is equally important to the skin and meat, or even more important than the meat. The duck skin is crispy and tasty, the lean meat is delicate and tender, and the fat is oily but not greasy. In terms of seasoning, the sweet noodle sauce has a moderate consistency. After being stir-fried with seasoning, the earthy smell of the raw sauce is removed; the green onions are Shandong sheep horn onions, which are slightly sweet, tender and juicy. The cucumber strips should also be tender, and the sophisticated restaurants will also peel the cucumber skin to increase the taste. The lotus leaf pancake should be thin but not bad, and chewy but not hard. After enjoying the roast duck, the duck rack can be taken home to stew cabbage or make soup. In addition, the restaurant also provides fried duck racks as a delicacy to go with wine.
