Beijing Roast Duck enjoys the reputation of being the most delicious food in Beijing. It is usually a fixed item of dinner on any Beijing tour itinerary. Eating Beijing Roasted Duck is also one of the two things you are absolutely supposed to do while in Beijing -- the other one is climbing the Great Wall.

 

The hometown of roast duck is actually Nanjing City of Jiangsu Province in East China. In the 19th year during the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the emperor moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and hence roasted duck was introduced to Beijing and became an imperial dish.

 

Beijing ducks are called force-fed ducks, which are raised for the sole purpose of making the food. Force-fed, they are kept in cages which restrain them from moving about, so as to fatten them up and make the meat comparably tender.

 

Beijing Roast Duck has two kinds: Menlu Roasted Duck (duck roasted in the oven) and Gualu Roasted Duck (duck roasted over the fire). It is always served in well-cut slices. The chef cuts the meat into thin slices, each having a piece of skin and perfect with the complete layers of the meat. Then the meat is served with very thin pancakes, Chinese onions and special sauce -- usually sweet bean sauce. The way to eat it is to coat the thin pancake with sauce, slap on a few pieces of meat and roll up the pancake. Chopsticks are optional: it is much easier just to grab the thing with your bare hands. Normally there are many dishes served with the duck, including a dish of fine-cut shallot bars, a dish of cucumber bars and finally a dish of paste-like soy of fermented wheat flour. The dinner usually ends with a rich cream-colored duck soup made from the duck.

 

The two famous restaurants that serve Beijing Roast Duck are Bianyifang Roast Duck Restaurant and Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant, both of which have a history of over one hundred years. They represent two different schools of roasting duck.

 

If you come to Beijing, don’t forget have a taste of Beijing Roast Duck.