This weekend we had the great pleasure of being invited to a traditional Peking duck menu. Apart from the anticipation of the already hours-long prepared duck, I was also particularly looking forward to spending an evening with Phong and Anne again, so at the same time also a small time travel, back to the old home…
Peking duck, as Wikipedia knows, is one of the most famous dishes of Chinese cuisine. The recipe for Peking duck dates back to the Ming Dynasty. In Vietnam, there is a variant that can also be prepared with chicken, Gà Quay Mật Ong.
The Peking ducks, which give their name to the dish, are fed a particularly rich diet during the last two weeks and are typically prevented from moving during this time so that their flesh is tender and their skin thin. Our particular duck, however, was spared this somewhat barbaric process, I was assured.
In Peking duck, Wikipedia continues, special emphasis is placed on the skin. Therefore, after slaughter, the animals undergo a special procedure that cannot be reproduced with commercial ducks. The duck is plucked but not eviscerated, the head and feet are not removed at first. Through a small incision in the neck, the skin is now inflated like a balloon so that it separates completely from the flesh.
The giblets are then removed by making the smallest possible incision below the wing. The feet are cut off.
Now the duck is hung by the neck, scalded with boiling water, seasoned and coated all around with honey or malt sugar dissolved in hot water, then dried in a well-ventilated place for a few hours.
The duck prepared in this way is cooked hanging in a special oven for several hours, during which time the skin re-inflates, becomes crispy and takes on its typical shiny red color.
Thus, in the first step is traditionally served the skin cut very thin. This is combined with various vegetables julienne-cut and wrapped in paper-thin pancakes. Phong serves a really delicious homemade hoisin sauce with it. Which, interestingly, translates to seafood sauce, but in its production (primarily from fermented red soybeans, sugar, wheat flour, garlic, vinegar, chilies, salt, sesame oil and sweet potatoes) is entirely devoid of products from the sea.
The meat is then cut into bite-sized, thin slices and served with a variety of side dishes as the main course. By the way, for our round of four people found two ducks.
Usually, the third course is followed by a soup, which, while the guests are served the main course, is made in the kitchen from the remaining parts of the animal. At Phong that night, we swung right over to a small, sweet dessert, followed by digestifs at the house bar.
Although I am a great lover of just about every facet of Asian cuisine, I must confess that this was actually my first Peking duck. But certainly not the last, especially since there are various possibilities here in Hamburg to enjoy this without the tiresome, often days in advance order…
