A few pieces of crispy duck meat, with scallions, sauce, wrapped in a thin lotus leaf cake, a bite, lips and teeth stay fragrant;Every authentic Peking duck on the table comes from the extraordinary craftsmanship of the roast duck master。

    "The best food in Beijing is better than the duck。Roast duck is arguably the most famous dish in Beijing and has a long history。Before the founding of New China, "roast duck" was called "grilled duck" or "roast duck", but compared with its fame, the story and unique skills of roast duck hidden for hundreds of years are little known。

The centuries-old origin of roast duck

    According to historical records, the history of roast duck can be traced back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties。It has already been recorded in the "Food Records" of the Northern and Southern Dynasties。By the Southern Song Dynasty, roast duck had become a famous product in the "city food" of Lin 'an (today's Hangzhou) and was deeply loved by the literati and officials。

    The cooking of ducks was described in detail by Hu Sihui, a Yuan scholar, in his book "Drink and Dine.。At that time, the palace already had roast duck, the use of stew oven roast, the selection of thin Nanjing lake duck, roast duck called "Jinling sliced duck"。The roast duck method, which has a direct origin with Beijing roast duck, did not appear until the Ming Dynasty。In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor and established Nanjing as his capital。According to legend, Zhu Yuanzhang's love for roast duck reached the point of "eclipse roast duck"。In order to please the emperor, the imperial chefs developed a variety of cooking methods, which laid the foundation for the formation of braised roast duck and hung roast duck in the future。

    After Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, made Nanjing his capital, sliced duck was included in the imperial diet。After Zhu Di, Emperor Chengzu of Ming Dynasty, moved the capital to Beijing, he brought the method of duck cooking from Nanjing to Beijing, and the duck body changed from the original Nanjing duck to Beijing duck stuffing。

    With the succession of dynasties, roast duck became a delicacy in the Ming and Qing courts。It is recorded in the Qing Dynasty's "Emperor Jing's Age Ji Sheng" and "Dumen Miscellaneous" books that during the Mid-Autumn Festival, in addition to osmanthus moon cakes, the palace dining room also prepared Nanfang duck (roast duck) for the emperor to enjoy, especially the Qianlong Emperor。

    In the Qing Dynasty, emperors and concubines loved roast duck, and the people followed suit。This is how roast duck became popular in Beijing。

    Yan Chen, a scholar of Daoguang Dynasty and a scholar of the Imperial Academy, returned to his hometown in Zhejiang in his later years，I always remember Beijing roast duck: "I remember Kyoto，Feed the duck into the world，Bad cooking is fat and beautiful，Plus a cannonade..."At this time, roast duck restaurants have spread throughout the bustling streets of Beijing，Authors such as cheap Fang, Quanjude, Liuhe Fang, Jinhua Pavilion and so on。

    The originator of Beijing Roast duck is Bianfang, located in Mizhi Hutong, Caishikou。This old shop was founded in the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, with a history of more than 600 years。It is said that the cheap square is also moved from Nanjing, the shop sign had been titled "Jinling" two words。

    Cheap square adopts the technique of "braised roast duck"。The stew is the kaoliang stalk, which is heated using a door, and the duck is placed inside after the fire is extinguished. The result is a jujube red color, with the skin shiny and crisp, and the meat white and delicate, fat but not greasy。Ming Jiajing troops Yang Jisheng in cheap square after eating, left "cheap square" three strong and vigorous characters。The plaque has survived to this day。In the Qing Dynasty, although cheap square changed owners several times, business was still booming, and demand exceeded supply every day。

    When the business of cheap square was at its peak, another roast duck restaurant - Quanjude - quietly appeared in the Hutong of Meat City in Qianmen。Quan Jude shopkeeper Yang Shoushan (word Quanren), was originally a chicken and duck peddler。After he had some savings, he saw that the cheap square business was thriving, and he wanted to open a roast duck shop。In 1864, he bought a fruit shop with the name "Deju Quan" and changed its name to "Quanju De" following the advice of Feng shui master.。After the name, Yang Shoushan in order to make a plaque, invited the scholar Qian Zilong (no. Yungu) to write "Quanju De" three characters for him, and made a black gold plaque hung on the lintels of the small shop。On July 9, 1864 (the early sixth day of the lunar month), Quanjude opened in a loud firecrackers。

    Yang Shoushan has a new way to sell hanging roast duck (uneasy stove door, using jujube wood, pear wood and other fruit wood as fuel) for its own characteristics, and the roast duck braised by cheap square。In order to make a beautiful hanging roast duck, Yang Shoushan heavily hired the master of the imperial kitchen room of the Qing Palace "Sun Xiaobraizhe" palm rod。Quanjude hired master Sun, which is equivalent to mastering all the techniques of hanging roast duck in the Qing Palace。Master Sun changed the original oven into a hanging oven with a large oven height, a deep and wide furnace, and a oven that can roast more than a dozen ducks, and can also roast and renew the ducks inside。The duck he roasted is beautiful in appearance, full and full, the color is jujube red, the skin crisp meat tender, delicious crisp and fragrant, fat but not greasy, thin but not wood, hanging oven roast duck is no longer just the palace food, but also become the folk good, at the same time, Quanjude also because of having this "unique skill", highly respected by diners。

    At the end of the Qing Dynasty, eating roast duck became the most fashionable thing, so that "relatives will be served with roast duck on their birthday."。However, there is a problem, when visiting the house, holding the roast duck oily, very indecent, and, after the door, if the host does not eat, placed for a period of time, Quanjude roast duck unique delicious will be greatly reduced。What is to be done？Quanjude has a way, they in order to solve the customer's worries, specially designed the "duck ticket" this new thing。During the birthday celebration, guests only need to take a large red paper set with duck tickets to celebrate the birthday, which is both light and decent, and the recipient can at any time hold a ticket to the roast duck shop to eat the freshly roasted duck, not only convenient but also taste the authentic Quanjude roast duck taste。Therefore, giving duck tickets as gifts was very popular at that time。

    At present, the stewed roast duck represented by Bianfang and the hung roast duck represented by Quanjude have become two famous schools of Beijing roast duck, each with its own merits。The reputation of Beijing Roast duck has already spread far and wide。

    In 2006, "Bianfang Stewed Roast Duck technique" and "Quanjude Hanging Roast Duck technique" were included in the first batch of municipal intangible cultural heritage list of Beijing;Approved by The State Council in 2008, they were included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list。

Eat roast duck daintily

    Due to the differences in equipment and roasting methods between the hanging oven and the braising oven, the unique taste of the two kinds of Beijing roast duck is created。

    Stewed roast duck is roasted with the oven door closed and the heat inside the oven wall is baked, the firepower is not strong, the air humidity is large, the fuel consumption is small, the duck breast is just like the steamed bread 暄腾。

    Hanging roast duck does not have a stove door, the fruit wood is fully burned, the duck is heated evenly and the fire is strong, the subcutaneous fat is consumed a lot, and the roast duck skin is crisp and tender。