Roasted duck, or lacquered duck, is a typical Beijing dish and world famous. It has such a long history that it can even be traced back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It was once an imperial meal.
In the early Ming Dynasty, both ordinary people and emperors loved Nanjing salted duck. They say that Zhu Yuanzhang, founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, ate a roasted duck every day. In order to please the emperor, imperial cooks strove to create new dishes made from duck. In this way, the two types of roasted duck gastronomy were created, the roasted duck hanging in the oven and the roasted duck closed in the oven. In the first case, only a hole is made in the duck to remove the insides. After filling it with boiling water, the hole is closed and hung over the fire. As fruit woods such as pear or jujube are used, no smoke is produced during cooking. In the second case, the duck is put in an oven of about one cubic meter, and the oven is not opened until the entire culinary process is completed.
Later, after Zhu Di moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, the famous cooks in roasted duck were also brought to Beijing. Based on the two types of gastronomy mentioned above, two culinary trends have developed, that of the roasted duck hanging in the oven and that of the roasted duck closed in the oven. To try the first type, you can go to Quanjude Restaurant, which is famous for this type of cuisine. To try the second, we recommend Bianyifang, which has a longer history in this field, with almost 600 years of history. In addition, there are also many more restaurants where the lacquered dish is served, very delicious and with its own characteristics.
PEKING CHAMBER
PEKING CHAMBER is a traditional brand chain restaurant in Beijing. It has around twenty branches in Beijing, distributed in several districts of the capital. This is a good choice to try typical Beijing dishes, especially the branch in Qianmen, which will form an unforgettable part of your trip in Beijing.
Pekingese also like to eat at the PEKING CHAMBER restaurant because it not only serves delicious dishes but also offers an affordable price.
Here at PEKING CHAMBER restaurant, you can try the famous lacquered duck, which is very delicious with crispy skin instead of being greasy, and a variety of characteristic Beijing dishes such as Baodu (fried stomach), Beijing-style barbecue, dumplings dried fries, palace almond tofu, Wan Dou Huang (sweet pea desserts), etc.
Ziguangyuan
The Ziguangyuan brand was founded in 1912. The ancestors of the Ai family, who ran a shaobing shop and a butcher shop, developed a dish called "Ai family fried dumplings" and founded the "Ziguangyuan" brand. Ziguangyuan brand has a history of more than one hundred years and enjoys the reputation of "Beijing's beautiful landscape of halal food culture" for its unique taste.
Ziguangyuan Halal roasted duck has been persisted and passed down from generation to generation by 4 generations of roasted duck masters. It adheres to the concept of "breeding is the basis and cleanliness is the most important thing" and is cooked with the authentic "oven-closed roasted duck" technique. With crispy skin and tender meat, fragrant but not greasy, the roasted duck is a brilliant calling card of Beijing oven-closed roasted duck.
Good flavor comes from good ingredients. Ziguangyuan roasted duck has strict standards for meat quality, fat content and skin thinness. The production of roasted duck has 28 processes, from initial preparation, blanching, hanging, drying and roasting, each process is meticulous. Experienced chefs take charge of the roasting process and strictly control the fire for 70 minutes. After even heating, the skin of the roasted duck is crispy and the meat is tender, fragrant but not greasy. The roasted duck is cut on site by duck cutting experts, and each roasted duck can be cut into 90-100 slices, which are then wrapped in thin tortillas with Ziguangyuan's signature duck sauce. Every bite is filled with the aroma of roasted duck, as well as the taste of centuries-old craftsmanship.
Quanjude
Quanjude, founded in the reign of Emperor Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1864) and has a history of more than 140 years. The founder of Quanjude is Yang Quanren, from Jizhou City, Hebei Province.
The kiln-hung lacquered duck uses fruit wood as fuel and is roasted over an open fire in a special oven. It is famous at home and abroad for its crispy skin, fresh meat, bright color and fragrant smell. High-quality raw material, unique technological process and finished lacquered duck with fragrant taste are the three characteristics of the production of Quanjude hanging oven-roasted lacquered duck. The finished duck has to go through the four processes of slaughtering and scalding, gutting, roasting and slicing duck, with a total of 31 steps.
As a prominent representative of Chinese food culture, Quanjude lacquered duck has attracted people from all over the world with its delicious taste and deep cultural connotation, and has made great contributions to New China diplomacy and international exchanges.
The production technique of Quanjude kiln-hung lacquered duck has been selected in the intangible cultural heritage lists at the national level and at the Beijing municipal level.
Four Generations Under One Roof
As an old Beijing style restaurant, Four Generations Under One Roof has created a retro ROC trend in Beijing's catering industry. With its hutong-style decoration, various traditional Beijing snacks and wonderful performances of the charming Beijing drum, the restaurant is definitely the best choice for those who want to taste the food and culture of old Beijing.
The dish that almost all diners order is called Dachibao Zhuowukui. Dachibao is a villain from "Four Generations Under One Roof", a novel created by Mr. Laoshe, who loves to play mahjong. This dish called "Dachibao" are innovative Wandouhuang desserts in the shape of mahjong tiles, a traditional dessert of ancient Beijing, and have sesame seed fillings. Originally, Wandouhuang desserts are delicate, sweet and cold, melting in the mouth. And the crunchy sesame seeds add a special flavor to this traditional and innovative Beijing snack.
Another popular dish here is roasted duck with gong and drum. Gong and Drum roasted duck is an original dish created by Four Generations Under One Roof. On the premise of preserving the traditional flavor of roasted duck, the roasted duck is innovatively placed in the charming drum of Beijing. Gongs and drums are a symbol of celebration in traditional Chinese culture. Cutting the roasted duck on the surface of the drum has auspicious meaning. In order to ensure the taste of roasted duck, here the roasted duck is roasted with pure jujube wood and hung in the oven. Each duck hung in the oven is roasted at a temperature of up to 230 degrees for 70 minutes. Once it comes out of the oven, the duck skin is crispy, the duck meat is tender and juicy, which is very fragrant.
In addition to the two popular dishes mentioned above, there are countless delicious dishes at Four Generations Under One Roof, such as roast beef, pork with century sauce, sweet and sour carp, etc., which are suitable for people of all ages. It is a good option for family dinners.
