i must blog about this. the famous 北京烤鸭!
why why? because i believe that though it is famous, alot of people do not know much about it! meaning, how it is eaten.
but before i venture in to the often-mistaken method of eating, i shall quote the brief intro of it based on the info i've found online.
北京烤鸭：提起北京的饮食，首先令人想到的便是烤鸭，它现在已经成为首都北京一道驰名中外的特色美食。烤鸭的故乡在中国东部江苏省的南京市。明代永乐十九年（公元1421年），明成祖迁都北京，烤鸭也随之进入北京，并成为宫廷菜肴。自此北京地区的养鸭业也逐渐兴盛起来。以后经过对鸭子品种的不断改良，并采用人工“填鸭”法喂养，培育出毛色洁白，体态丰满，肉质细嫩的新品种——北京填鸭。用北京填鸭烤出的烤鸭味道鲜美，远胜其它，名声日盛，人们称其为“北京烤鸭”。北京烤鸭可分为“焖炉烤鸭”和“挂炉烤鸭”两种。“焖炉烤鸭”和“挂炉烤鸭”所使用的原料和处理鸭子的方法是一致的。不同之处在于两者的烤制方法：“焖炉烤鸭”是以秫秸为燃料，先将烤炉的烤墙烤热，然后将鸭子放入炉内，关闭炉门，完全通过炉墙的热度和灼热的柴灰将鸭焖熟，具有肉质细嫩的特点。“挂炉烤鸭”则是以果木为燃料，在特制的烤炉中明火烤制而成，具有味道香美，表皮酥脆的特点。现在，在北京众多的烤鸭店铺之中，以烤制“焖炉烤鸭”的“便宜坊”和擅长“挂炉烤鸭”的“全聚德”最为闻名。
congrats if you've survived reading through that chunk of chinese words up there. in any case if you hadn't, below is the translated introduction to the 北京烤鸭 similar to the text above...
Beijing Roasted Duck has 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 roasted duck is actually Nanjing City of Jiangsu Province in East China. In the 19th year (1421) 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 Roasted Duck has two kinds: Menlu Roasted Duck (duck roasted in the oven) and Gualu Roasted Duck (duck roasted over the fire). The preparations include: first rubbing the ducks with spices, salt and sugar, and then hanging them in the air for some time. To make a Menlu Roasted Duck, first burn the Kaoliang stalks in the oven till the sides of the oven turn hot, then put the ready-duck inside until the duck is baked date-red and shining with oil by the heat of the oven and the remaining heat of the ash. To make a Gualu Roasted Duck, the ready-duck is baked in the oven directly over the burning wood of peach, jujube or date trees, which gives off a special fragrance, with very little smoke; bake until the duck becomes brown with rich grease perspiring outside and have a nice odor. The best roasted duck has a crisp skin and tender meat.
nownow, comes to the main concern of this post, to enlighten readers on how the Beijing Roasted Duck is to be eaten. hehehe! take a look at the picture below. served in the duck-shaped plate is the 北京烤鸭 that we ate at 粤海烤鸭店 - one of the most famous restaurants in Beijing. Of coz it came with some price, but well, put that at a later concern.
see the different plates of fillings and sauces beside the duck-shaped plate? those are to be wrapped together with the 北京烤鸭 inside a circular piece of specially-made 薄饼皮 (that is contained inside the cirular container at the top of the picture - cut off). yes that's right, the traditional actual way of eating 北京烤鸭 is not like how we eat our Duck Rice, but is actually wrapped with some sauces and fillings in a 薄饼皮. The sauces can be 甜面酱，酱油，蒜泥，etc…and the fillings can be 葱白，黄瓜条，etc…。After wrapping the personalized sauces and fillings into the wrap with the duck, the roll can be dipped slightly in one of the sauces to enhance the taste.
as we had ordered the entire duck, we followed the method of eating, ie to use part of the remaining duck and its bones to make a soup. not really as tasty as could be partly coz it was only done up in less than an hour, and the taste of the meat and bones has not seeped out into the soup base.
there is a third general way of eating though we did not try, and that is to fill hollow thin sesame-pancakes (空心芝麻烧饼夹) with the roasted duck, chinese onions and a special sauce that is usually sweet bean sauce.
the reason why i ventured into the discussion of this, is because i had just been telling my mum this when she mistakenly told me her concept of the 北京烤鸭 and that the version that I told her I've eaten is not the mainsteam way. hahaha! she's wrong! had you been wrong too? =/
omg i'm almost drooling already. its nearing dinner time and thinking of food makes me super hungry. well, although i should have been thinking of 4011 proj. argh!
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