Peking Duck

Roast duck has been eaten in China for many centuries, but the version associated with Beijing was refined in imperial and court kitchens and later codified by dedicated restaurants in the city, some of which have been serving it for well over a century and remain pilgrimage sites.

It was, from the beginning, a dish of status. The labour involved, the specially raised birds, and the theatre of carving at the table all marked it as banquet food rather than everyday eating, and it has kept that character.

Almost every step exists to produce skin that shatters. Air is introduced between the skin and the fat to separate them. The bird is scalded with boiling water to tighten the skin, then brushed with a sugar or maltose solution that will caramelise into a deep mahogany colour.

It is then hung to air-dry, often for many hours, in a cool draught. This drying stage is the one most often skipped by home cooks and the one that matters most: moisture in the skin produces steam, and steam produces leather rather than crackling.

The classic roasting method uses an open oven fired with fruitwood, which imparts a faint sweetness, and the duck hangs so heat circulates evenly around it. A closed-oven method also exists and produces a slightly different, juicier result. Both are defended vigorously by their partisans.

The duck is carved in front of the diners, traditionally into a set number of slices with skin and meat in careful proportion. The pieces are eaten wrapped in thin steamed pancakes with spring onion, cucumber and a sweet fermented bean sauce, though some restaurants serve the crispest skin alone with a little sugar so nothing distracts from its texture.

Nothing is wasted. The carcass usually returns to the kitchen and comes back as a soup, and the remaining meat may be stir-fried, so that a single bird provides several courses across a meal.