China's most ceremonial dish: a lacquered duck air-dried for 24 hours then roasted until the skin shatters. Carved tableside. Skin first, always.
About Peking Duck
China's most ceremonial dish — a specially bred duck air-dried for 24 hours to tighten the skin, then roasted in a fruit-wood oven until the lacquered mahogany skin shatters like glass; carved tableside and eaten in thin pancakes with hoisin sauce, spring onion and cucumber; a dish served to visiting heads of state at Quanjude since 1864.
A specially bred duck is air-dried for 24 hours to tighten the skin, then roasted in a fruit-wood oven at high heat until the lacquered mahogany skin shatters like glass. Carved tableside — skin first, then meat — and eaten in thin pancakes with hoisin sauce, spring onion and cucumber.
“A specially bred duck is air-dried for 24 hours to tighten the skin, then roasted in a fruit-wood oven at high heat until the lacquered mahogany skin shatters like glass.”
The skin is served and eaten separately from the meat. This is not optional — the skin is the point of the dish.
What to Expect
The duck arrives at the table whole. The carver works quickly — skin separated from meat in one motion. You wrap a piece of skin in a pancake with hoisin and eat before it cools.
Why Try It
Peking duck at Quanjude (since 1864) or Da Dong in Beijing is the reference point for what the rest of the world is attempting to reproduce.
Insider Tips
- Quanjude Qianmen and Da Dong in Beijing are the two canonical addresses.
- Order the skin-only course first before the wrapped meat course — this is the traditional sequence.
- Book ahead; both restaurants require reservations.
