Pato assado de Pequim - Caraterísticas, como saborear e restaurantes famosos

Pratos de Pequim

Roast duck or Pecking duck is the most famous dish in Beijing, with no competitors. In fact, if you ask a Chinese which food they can relate to Beijing, most people would come up with this answer without hesitation. It features crisp skin, tender and juicy meat, and fat but not greasy taste.

Features

The cook picks ducks of 65 days, whose meat is ample enough but still tender. He then seasons them and glazes them with a layer of runny syrup, the secret of the crisp skin. After drying for 24 hours, the ducks will be hung in the oven and roasted with charcoals from fruit trees, which gives them a special fragrance until the skin turns shiny brown. Of course, different cooks have different recipes and produce various flavors, but the general procedures are the same.

Como desfrutar

A roast duck dish consists of three courses – the skin, the meat, and the carved duck (the remainder of the roast duck after being sliced). Firstly, the skin would be served in slices with a plate of sugar. It contains a lot of fat, but because of the long-time roasting, you will not find it greasy at all, as long as you finish it before it cools down. It tastes little like potato chips but much more delicious. You can dip it in the sugar to enhance the flavor.

Then, the meat will be served, also in slices, with steamed pancakes, some vegetables, and sauces. If you are dining in a fancy restaurant, the cook will slice the duck right beside you. The vegetables normally include julienned cucumber and spring onion, but sometimes, there would also be carrots and Hami Melon. The traditional sauce is made of soybeans and tastes sweet, but some restaurants also provide peanut butter and cranberry paste.

To enjoy this dish, you need first dip two or three slices of meat and the vegetables into the sauce (a little would be enough. Otherwise, it may become too salty) and then wrap them with the pancake. Please do not be shy to use your hands. A lot of Chinese cannot complete the wrapping with chopsticks. You are no inferior to them.

The carved duck comes last, and the waiter would ask you how you would like it when you make your order. The traditional choice is the broth, where the cook stews the carved duck with tofu and cabbages. But you can also choose Jiaoyan, where the cook fries it and then applies salt and pepper. It is also very tasty but often comes with an extra cost, ranging from 6 RMB to 20 RMB, according to the restaurant you dine in.

Famous roast duck restaurants

After considering the locations, services, and ratings in an App specializing in customers’ reviews, we recommend you the following restaurants, hoping they can bring you a wonderful dining experience.