Beijing (ANTARA) – Coming to Beijing would certainly not be complete if you didn’t taste Beijing’s “typical” food, namely Peking Roast Duck or (Beijing kaoya).
Peking duck has a long history, starting at least from the Yuan dynasty (13th century) but reached its popularity during the Ming dynasty (14th to 17th centuries) because it became a luxurious dish served to guests of honor.
This traditional dish is famous for its complicated and long cooking process which produces crispy skin and tender meat. Whole ducks are also roasted on firewood from fruit trees, giving the meat a distinctive aroma.
One of the restaurants in Beijing which is famous for its Pekin duck is Quanjude which has been established since 1864 on Qiangmen Street.
Qianmen itself has been the main street since the Ming Dynasty and has been a center of trade and culture.
The area currently offers restaurants with a variety of traditional foods including Peking duck, Beijing hot pot, various cakes and sugar-coated fruit candies (tanghulu). The location is also close to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, so it’s not surprising that Qianmen Street is always busy with visitors.
Quanjude Restaurant serves Beijing roast duck and 400 other dishes. The restaurant was founded by Yang Quanren who first came to Beijing to sell chicken and duck.
However, one day Yang saw a dried fruit shop that was almost bankrupt called “Dejuquan” and decided to buy the restaurant.
He then toured many roast duck restaurants in Beijing until he met a man surnamed Sun who mastered the technique of cooking roast duck at the Qing Dynasty palace.
Sun then changed the original oven into a hanging oven with a large stove that could accommodate a dozen ducks and a wide hearth so that the roast ducks that came out of the stove were beautiful, plump, crispy brown, had crispy skin and tender meat.
ANTARA had the opportunity to enjoy the Peking duck package with a menu including the following:
1. Bird’s nest soup, matsutake mushrooms and pigeon eggs
This dish is the first dish because its texture is smooth, soft and tender. The soup is fresh and rich in nutrition. Swallow and pigeon eggs are known to contain high levels of protein, iron, calcium and vitamin A to increase skin elasticity and also increase blood circulation so they are good for the heart.
2. Roast duck slices and fried cod
The skin of the roasted ducks is served with a soft brown color coated with oil on top which makes the skin shine. There was also a fragrant smell coming from the stove with fruit wood so that when chewed, the skin and meat of the duck felt crunchy, melting in the mouth with the aroma of wood.
3. Braised sea cucumber with spring onions and marbled beef (served with rice)
Sea cucumber or sea cucumber and spring onion is a local traditional dish from Shandong province. Sea cucumbers with spring onions and ginger are grilled to produce a salty and fresh taste with a strong aroma of spring onions but rich in nutrients.
Meanwhile, the beef that has been cut into cubes is given soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, salt, stock powder, rock sugar, fennel, cinnamon, bay leaves and other spices and cooked for 1.5 hours over low heat.
4. Kung Pao Shrimp
It is fried shrimp poured with kung pao sauce. Kung Pao sauce is a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, salt, black sweet soy sauce, wine, white pepper, starch, sesame oil, dried chilies, garlic, ginger, pepper, garlic mixed with a balanced composition.
5. Roast duck in the shape of a peony flower
The duck served is selected from high quality ducks, cleaned, filled with 13 types of spices rubbed evenly on the inside walls and soaked for 10 hours. Once the duck is dry, bake it in the oven for 50-60 minutes, then slice it thinly with slices shaped like peonies.
Duck is eaten with thin pancakes (, chn bng) which are a type of soft flatbread. To do this, spread the pancake wide, take slices of roast duck and dip them in sweet and salty sauce and sugar, then add slices of spring onions and fresh orientals then wrap the pancake and enjoy the mixture of flavors and textures of the roast duck “wrap”.
Starting April 2022, the Qiangmen branch of Quanjude restaurant will open a special dining room featuring various animations of places in Beijing.
Visitors will be pampered with a dining experience that provides an immersive impression while enjoying Peking duck surrounded by animations showing various locations in Beijing.
The animation shows various buildings from Qing Dynasty palaces to natural landscapes, so it is called an “Immersive dining experience”. Visitors can enjoy the experience by paying 300 RMB per person.
