Is there nothing more quintessential than eating Peking Duck in Beijing, or more precisely (but outdated) eating Peking Duck in Peking? (If you’re wondering, Peking was the capital of China until the capital was renamed in 1954, with mainstream Western media fully adopting the new name in the 1990’s.)
This dish is synonymous with the Chinese, and therefore there is no better place to eat it than from where it was named. If there was one thing on my bucket list to knock off in Beijing it was to have Peking Duck. While we were in Hong Kong you could see a lot of duck, and other roasted meats, hanging in many windows of restaurants to tempt you in. Not in Beijing though, we didn’t see many restaurants with duck hanging in their front windows.
It’s also not as easy to find as it may seem, but that might also be down to the way that we seek out food. You see, we tend not to eat in the tourist areas. We choose our restaurants away from the tourist trade for a few reasons; it has the local tastes, not those tailored for the tourist, the service isn’t as pushy, the food is the same as the local would eat and it cost less, and sometimes ‘significantly’ less.
This was another restaurant where English wasn’t spoken, so pictures and Google Translate work well. At this restaurant on page one, lots of duck pictures so we know we were in the right place. We get our order placed, no other dishes, and we’re away. Somehow I’m convinced to order some hot pear tea, but Wendy sees beers in the fridge behind me and quickly gets a couple of beers ordered.
Shortly afterwards the peking Duck arrives, we ordered a whole duck between us, and it’s just the perfect amount. They have carved the duck and quickly give us a lesson in rolling the pancake rolls, not that we haven’t done this before. It was my error that got us the lesson, normally we have a small teaspoon for the Hoisin Sauce, but this time there is no spoon for the sauce. I gesticulate for a spoon, and the teaching begins; basically don’t use a spoon just dip your duck into the Hoisin Sauce and then onto your pancake. Why have I never done that before, and why didn’t my mate in Hong Kong tell me that when we were eating Peking Duck there either.
All in all, absolutely delicious and we left none. Peking Duck when in Beijing, just got to be done!!
