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Beijing Duck
The Quanjude Restaurant, the largest roast duck
restaurant in Beijing if not in the world, opened for business in
1979. Located near Hepingmen Gate (Peace Gate), it has a floor space
of 15,000 square meters divided into 41 dining halls, including one,
which can serve 600 customers simultaneously. The dining halls
reserved for overseas guests can accommodate a total of 2,000
diners, and include a hall where all-duck banquets in which all the
dishes are made from parts of the duck can be served to 600 people.
Filled to capacity, Quanjude Restaurant can serve as many as 5,000
meals a day.
The art of roasting ducks evolved from techniques used
to prepare sucking pigs. For more than a century, specialized chefs
have developed the idea that the skin of the duck should be so soft
and crisp that it melts in the mouth. In applying the traditional
method of preparation, the chefs at Quanjude pay particular
attention to the quality of the duck, the auxiliary ingredients and
the type of wood burned in the oven. Special farms supply plump
Beijing ducks weighing an average of 2.5 kilograms each. The two
famous Beijing condiment shops, Liubiju and Tianyuan, supply the
dark tangy bean sauce spread on the pancakes. The fragrant sesame
oil and refined sugar are also specially selected. Finally, only the
wood of fruit trees such as date, peach and pear are used in the
roasting process to give the meat its unique fragrance.
The preparation of the dish requires a series of
complicated steps, which include inflating the unbroken skin like a
balloon so that it roasts just right. Quanjude employs chefs who
specialize in these techniques, while other chefs prepare the
non-duck dishes. Whereas in the past the restaurant’s staff numbered
no more than 40, it has at present grown to over 1,000. Among them
are chefs and managers with records of 40 or 50 years of faithful
service.
The slicing of the meat from the carcass of the duck is
an art in itself. A skilled chef is able to cut between 100 and 120
slices in four or five minutes, each slice with an equal portion of
both skin and meat. Inventiveness is another quality cultivated at
Quanjude. One seasoned chef has mastered more than 80 dishes made
from the duck’s innards, head, wings and webs. A selection of these
dishes, whether hot, cold, boiled, fried, stewed or pickled, will be
the makings of an all-duck banquet.
The first restaurant to bear the name Quanjude opened
in 1864 during the reign of the Qing Emperor Tongzhi. Due to its
high standards, the restaurant’s fame spread rapidly and for many
years the supply of roast ducks could hardly satisfy the demand. For
this reason, the restaurant was rebuilt and expanded in 1948. In
1954 a branch (known as Hongbinlou) was opened in West Chang’ an
Boulevard and another in Wangfujing Street in 1959. These additions,
however, still did not solve the problem, and with the opening of
the Quanjude at hepingmen in 1979, it was no longer necessary to
make a reservation a week in advance to taste Beijing’s most famous
culinary delight.
The history of the roast duck can be traced back to as
early as the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368) when it was listed among the
imperial dishes in the Complete Recipes for Dishes and Beverages,
written in 1330 by Hu Sihui, an inspector of the imperial kitchen.
Details regarding the cooking process were also described in this
early cookbook.
In the early 15th century, when the Ming Dynasty
capital was shifted from Nanjing to Beijing, roast duck remained one
of the famous dishes on imperial court menus. According to the local
history, the earliest roast duck restaurant in Beijing was the old
Bianyifang Restaurant, which opened during the Jiajing reign
(1522-1566). Distinct from the method in which the duck is hung from
a hook in the ceiling of the oven and roasted over and roasted over
burning wood, the Old Bianyifang Restaurant roasted its ducks with
radiant heat. The walls of the oven were first heated with sorghum
stalks whereupon the duck was placed inside and cooked by the heat
given off by the walls. A duck roasted in this manner is crisp to
the touch and golden brown in appearance; its flesh is both tender
and tasty.
During the Qianlong period (1736-1796), roast duck was
a favorite delicacy of the upper classes. According to Recipes from
the Suiyuan Garden, the famous cookbook written by the poet and
gourmet Yuan Mei, “Roast duck is prepared by revolving a young
duckling on a spit in an oven. The chefs of Inspector Feng’s family
excel in preparing this dish.” Other scholars, after dining on roast
duck, were inspired to poetry. In one collection of old Beijing
rhymes (Duan Zhuzhici) one of the poems reads: “Fill your plates
with roast duck and suckling pig.” Another contemporary annotation
reads: “When an official gives a banquet he will choose dishes to
please each of his guests. For example, Bianyifang’ s roast duck…”
To satisfy the growing demand for roast duck, and with
an eye on the profits to be made from a good name, many restaurants
opened from a good name, many restaurants opened under the
Bianyifang name. In fact, in 1926, nine roast duck restaurants in
Beijing carried this name. In the late 1960s the Bianyifang
Restaurant’s name was changed to the Chongwenmen Roast Duck
Restaurant, but in 1979 it resumed its former title. Its menu
includes more than 20 traditional duck dishes, including the Four
Delicacies: wing and web, liver, heart and pancreas.
We have given much information about the history of
this noble dish but none at all on how it is eaten. The simple
procedure is as follows: Pick up a pancake in one hand and, using a
section of raw scallion as a brush, paint a few splashes of bean
sauce on the pancake. Next, place the scallion in the center of the
pancake, and with your chopsticks add a few pieces of duck, finally
rolling it up for convenience’s sale. Here then is one of the most
unforgettable mouthfuls in all of Chinese cooking.
Note: The roast duck restaurants of Beijing are
distinguished by their nicknames: the Big Duck, on Qianmen Avenue,
an older restaurant not described above; the Small Duck, the old
Bianyifang Restaurant; the Wall Street Duck, the Quanjude
Restaurant, the largest and newest addition to the Beijing “duck
family” at Hepingmen Gate (described above); And the Sick Duck, so
called due to its proximity to the Peking Union Medical College
Hospital.
Beijing Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant
14, Qianmen
Xidajie
Tel: 65112418
Beijing Qianmen Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant
32,
Qianmen Street
Tel: 67011379
Beijing Wangfujing Quanjude Roast Duck
Restaurant
13, Shuaifuyuan Hutong, Dongcheng District
Tel:
65253310
Beijing Jingxin Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant
A2
Dongsanhuan Beilu, Chaoyang District
Tel: 64660895
Beijing Hepingmen Roast Duck Restaurant
Hepingmen
Dajie, Xuanwu District
Tel: 6552 3745
Bianyifang Roast Duck Restaurant
A2 Chongwenmenwai
Dajie, Chongwen District
Tel: 67120505 |
