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We will certainly go to eat Peking Duck when we visit Beijing. We will probably go to Quanjude Restaurant. The original Quanjude was established in 1864. It is located south of Tiananmen Square. The last time we went to Beijing we visited the branch located at Wangfujing which opened in 1959. The area around Wangfujing Avenue near Tiananmen Square is the central business district and shopping area of Beijing.
Quanjude uses the traditional method of roasting duck that they learned from imperial chefs from the Forbidden City. The duck is rubbed with salt, sugar and spices. The skin of the duck is inflated like a balloon to separate it from the fat underneath. It is then hung on a pole over a non-smoky hard wood fire (such as date, peach, and pear trees) until the skin turns golden brown and crisp. When the duck is served, a cook comes to the table to carve the duck by cutting off slices of crispy skin and tender meat.
The dish is eaten by placing some crispy skin and duck meat on a bao bing, a thin small tortilla-like wrapping. A slice of scallion and some sweet paste made of hoisin sauce.
At the end of the meal a bowl of duck broth is served.
Last time we just ordered Peking Duck. Next time I hope we order a couple of additonal dishes. Other duck dishes available are: duck foot webs with mustard, Brine duck liver, stewed duck liver and gizzard, duck rolls in Maotai wine, duck slices in wine essence, duck with all flavours, duck wings in brown sauce, assorted four delicacies from the duck, deep-fried duck liver and gizzard, grilled duck heart, four delicacies from the duck in hot sauce, three delicacies of duck in rice wine, white grilled three delicacies of duck, duck tongues with egg-white, Beijing duck rolls, egg custard with duck grease, shark’ fin with duck, steamed duck, steamed duck breast in unglazed pot, mushroom stewed with duck wings, snow mushroom soup with duck tongues, bird’s nest and duck tongues, duck hearts with chrysanthemum, sauted duck intestine, fresh mushroom with duck slices, duck-like pastry, stuffed dumpling with duck meat and crepes with vegetables oil.
One restaurant that I really hope that we can visit in Beijing is the Fangshan Restaurant located in Beihai Park. The restaurant is located in Yilantang Hall on the north side of the Jade Isle. The Empress Dowager Cixi(1835 – 1908) used to take her meals in Yilantang Hall after sight – seeing in the park, which was once an imperial garden. Fangshan Restaurant is well-known because it serves imperial court cuisine from the Qing Dynasty. The restaurant was opened in 1925 by chefs of the imperial court. This was a year after Puyi, “the Last Emperor,” was driven out of the Forbidden City. The restaurant is known for their “ManHan” banquet which is composed of Manchu and Han dishes. Stewed camel’s hump and deer tendon are some of the exotic dishes that they offer. They are also known for their pastries such as the Empress Dowager Cixi’s favorite sesame buns stuffed with minced pork and wan dou huang, a sweet made from dried peas and sugar.
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