Where is the best roast duck in China?

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Ducks seem to be inferior birds in both the East and the West.

Hans Bidderman's Dictionary of World Cultural Symbols says: "Ducks, waterfowl and poultry are not as important as geese. Wild ducks were first hunted and then domesticated (from ancient Egypt to BC 1500). They often appear in works of art, suggesting pornography, and their exact nature is uncertain. "

And Yuan Mei said in the "Garden Food List Feather List": "Chicken is the most powerful, and all dishes depend on it. Let the leader of the feather family be attached to other birds. " Ducks are the main auxiliary roles.

The reason is that westerners pursue the taste, so the goose with thick meat and strong taste takes the lead. At the same time, geese are still herbivores like cattle and sheep, which has an advantage over omnivorous chickens and ducks that can be eaten raw. Under the simple cooking concept in the western world, ducks naturally become substitutes for geese.

Orientals pursue taste, are full of sinews and bones, and can withstand cooking, so that chicken with umami substances slowly oozing out becomes the first choice. In China, boiled chicken has more than ten names, such as boiled chicken, chopped chicken, chopped chicken and slaughtered chicken. The function of a bowl of chicken soup goes beyond the food itself, and it is a good medicine for China people to cure diseases and strengthen their health.

In contrast, ducks that are not prominent in all aspects seem to inevitably occupy a supporting role. But from another point of view, the proportion of fat, protein and bone tendon in duck meat is the most balanced, which makes it especially suitable for barbecue. Maillard reaction and dry distillation can bring crisp skin, bright color and oily taste. In contrast, the roast goose that is not easy to taste and the roast chicken with insufficient fat are eclipsed by the roast duck.

In the vast areas of China, especially those areas with developed economy and a large number of educated people, there are roast ducks with their own characteristics. This is related to the doctrine of the mean of Ducks, which coincides with the outlook on life of traditional China literati.

No.: 1? one

The history of China people eating roast duck can be traced back to prehistoric times.

To some extent, Chinese food is the art of fire. Barbecue takes air as the medium of fire, which is the most primitive cooking method. It is much older than burning slate, frying oil, boiling water and steaming steam.

At the latest to the Western Han Dynasty, the barbecue technology was very mature, and there were stone carvings of kebabs in the Complete Portraits of the Han Dynasty. In Mawangdui No.1 Han Tomb, fans for barbecue and related materials such as "roast beef", "roast dog ribs" and "roast chicken" were also unearthed. Obviously, this is not only the simple cooking of cooked food by primitive people with fire as the medium, but also an interesting record of cooking technology and life interest.

As it happens, ducks are common birds in the central and eastern parts of ancient China. Pottery ducks unearthed in Hemudu, Zhejiang and Wuping, Fujian have a history of 5000 years. Archaeological sites in Jurong, Jiangsu, Pingquan, Hebei and Zhengzhou, Henan all unearthed bronze ducks and even duck eggs 4,000 years ago.

Although most of the ducks eaten at that time were wild ducks, the subcutaneous fat was not enough and the taste was not as good as that of domestic ducks. Liang Shiqiu despises the inferior roast duck with skin, meat and no oil. But in any case, roast duck has become a tradition, rooted in the life of China people.

The Book of Qi Yaomin written by Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the 6th century A.D. may be the earliest record of roast duck. In the book, it is described that raising ducks "is good for chefs to raise ducks for 60 or 70 days." Roast duck is called "roast duck in the nest", and its practice is "fat duck, clean and washed, boneless for cups, five combinations of wine, five combinations of fish sauce, five combinations of ginger, onion, orange peel and soy sauce, and one combination of stains for a long time, it will be roasted in the middle."

Simple translation: Roasted duck should be kept for 60 or 70 days. Choose the fat ones, wash them and cut them into pieces, marinate them with wine, fish sauce and soy sauce with onion, ginger and orange peel, and then bake them.

It's too exquisite

Coincidentally, at the same time, the word "roast duck" also appeared in the Records of Food Goods written by Yu Yi in the Southern Dynasties. This is probably the whole roast duck, which has begun to take shape as a modern roast duck.

No: 2? two

In fact, the roast duck not only witnessed the changes of China's food culture, but also concentrated the social fashion in different periods. Zhang Kun in the Tang Dynasty recorded in detail the popular "open fire black duck" at that time: put the duck in a special cage, then put the cage on a hot charcoal fire basin, and put a basin full of soy sauce and vinegar outside the cage. When the duck was roasted in the cage, it was hot and thirsty, so it desperately drank the sauce in the basin outside the cage. After a long time, the duck feathers were burned and the duck skin was cooked.

As a dynasty with nomadic descent and advocating force, the roast duck in Tang Dynasty may appear rough, brutal and cruel compared with the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but its ingenuity also reflects the progress of cooking art on the other hand.

In the highly developed Song Dynasty, the style of roast duck was further improved. In Dream of Tokyo and Dream of Liang, it is recorded that there is a kind of "duck" food sold in restaurants in Kaifeng and Hangzhou. In Wu dialect, the word "Sui" is used to describe the sultry summer climate in the south of the Yangtze River. Literally, "cheese" in food probably means baking in a closed environment-obviously, this is what roast duck looks like today.

The closed oven can maintain a more constant temperature, which makes the surface of roast duck more evenly colored and the meat more loose; Barbecue fireworks repeatedly reflux in the furnace body, making the smell of ducks more smoky; Long-term stewing process can make duck meat rich in juice and oil.

No: 3? three

At the latest in the early Ming Dynasty, the technology of roast duck in economically developed areas in the south of the Yangtze River was quite mature. The capital of Zhu Yuanzhang is Nanjing, and many local folklore points out the inextricable connection between this civilian emperor and Nanjing roast duck.

Legend may not be taken seriously, but regardless of class and social status, the fashion that everyone loves roast duck is truly recorded in the notes of various literati.

During the Yongle period, after Judy moved to Beijing, the signboard of "Jinling Sliced Duck" was also hung on the streets of Beijing. I'm afraid it's a bit far-fetched to say that Emperor Zhu personally took the roast duck chefs to Beijing. The emperor has a busy schedule and has no time to manage the roast duck business of ordinary people. However, the northward movement of the political center has also led to the migration of food fashion, but this is a visible historical evolution.

After the Eight Banners entered the customs, Nanjing's capital status was cancelled. On the contrary, in order to prevent the wave after wave of anti-Qing dynasty from regaining sight, the Manchu nobles deliberately lowered the position of Nanjing, a "holy place of Longxing", in the eyes of Zhu Ming's elderly.

The most direct manifestation of this change in political wind direction is that the signboard of "Jinling sliced duck" on the streets of Beijing has become "Beijing roast duck". Over time, most people think that roast duck is a local feature of Beijing's origin.

Where did such a roast duck spread for thousands of years leave its footprint and continue to this day?

Beijing: Hanging roast duck.

| Authentic North School |

Although Beijing roast duck is produced by Nanjing roast duck, it has to be said that it has undergone tremendous evolution in hundreds of years.

The first is practice. Nanjing roast duck is characterized by stewing furnace inherited from the Southern Song Dynasty, but Beijing roast duck has developed a hanging furnace duck represented by Quanjude. The so-called hanging oven means that there is no oven door in the oven. Hang the duck into the oven with a long pole and turn it over at any time to ensure uniform heating.

In addition, ducks hanging on the stove use open flames, and the fuel is fruit trees. There is no smoke and strong firepower, so the subcutaneous fat rate is high and the duck skin is crisp. Others, especially disrespecting the lack of oil in hanging ducks, invented the roast duck without furnace. Although the duck oil did melt completely, the duck meat became old and fell off.

The unique eating method of Beijing roast duck: noodle sauce, scallion, shredded radish, shredded cucumber and duck skin lotus leaf cake, on the one hand, originated from the skills of Shandong cuisine masters who have the deepest influence on Beijing's diet-scallion, noodle sauce and flour cake are all common side dishes in Shandong; On the other hand, it is tailor-made for crispy duck hanging. Green onions and vegetables are balanced and greasy, the flour paste provides sweetness, the flour cake makes the roast duck feel ceremonial and provides starch to satisfy hunger.

In the past two years, the most popular roast duck in Beijing is Dadong roast duck, which has overshadowed the old brands. In fact, Dadong Duck did make many innovations in eating, such as dipping duck skin with white sugar, dipping duck meat with garlic, and putting roast duck slices in hamburgers. However, it is also suspected of raising the price of ducks, making Beijing roast duck more and more a banquet food away from civilian fireworks, which is extremely hateful.

In fact, the Dadong roast duck, which is also a typical Beijing-style duck, has not made many technological breakthroughs.

Weifang, Shandong: Mizhou Roast Duck

| Roast Duck Mom |

If Nanjing Roast Duck is the "father" of Beijing Roast Duck, Shandong Shandong cuisine is undoubtedly the "mother" of Beijing Roast Duck.

Most of the raw materials of Beijing roast duck, including stuffed duck, seasoning, flour cakes and fruit trees, come from Shandong. Of course, the Shandong cuisine master will not let all the good local ingredients be shipped to Beijing. For example, the famous Mizhou roast duck can be called Shandong roast duck.

Mizhou is the old name of Zhucheng in Weifang and the hometown of Liu Yong, the "Prime Minister Liu". In addition to producing literati, there are also chefs here. Some people say that Zhucheng's position in Shandong cuisine and Jiaodong cuisine is just like Shunde in Cantonese cuisine, and its amorous feelings can be seen.

The flavor of Mizhou roast duck is not much different from that of Beijing roast duck. The biggest feature is that the chefs of Shandong cuisine can make a "roast duck feast" with various by-products of roast duck: thick duck breast for stir-frying, fried leeks with frozen slices of duck blood, stewed mushrooms with duck tongue, fried duck intestines, steamed mandarin fish with duck oil, and slippery sea cucumber with duck soup.

Kaifeng, Henan: Bianjing Roast Duck

Grandpa Roast Duck |

Kaifeng Bianjing Roast Duck may be the oldest existing roast duck, which has restored the tradition of "curing ducks" in the dream of Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty and retained the characteristics of ancient braised ducks.

Bianjing roast duck is roasted with jujube charcoal, which is different from fast-burning pear wood, apple wood and other fruit trees. Wood is dense and rich in oil, and there will be smoke and jujube exudation during baking. The process of stewing in the oven is actually a smoking process. The finished duck skin is purple, and there is no scattered carbon chips hanging in the oven. Moreover, the skin and flesh are inseparable, and the jelly-like fat under the skin can be eaten in one bite. For those who are not afraid of oil, this roast duck is much more delicious than hanging duck.

Another gold standard to test the success or failure of braised duck is the texture of duck breast. Good braised duck consumes less water and has the effect of roasting outside and steaming inside, so the duck meat is loose and fluffy. In particular, thick duck breast meat should be as fragrant as freshly baked steamed bread, so as to be a successful duck stew.

Leshan, Sichuan: Sweet-skinned Duck

Better than roast duck |

Strictly speaking, in fact, a sweet-skinned duck is not a roast duck.

However, this kind of duck salted first and then fried does have a taste infinitely similar to that of roast duck, which is another interpretation of China roast duck.

In fact, the practice of sweet-skinned duck is not much different from that of ordinary braised duck. Stir-fry the rock sugar until it is sugar-colored, add spices and cook it in the marinade for pickling. In fact, the braised duck is very delicious, with soft skin and delicious duck meat, but especially the heavily seasoned Sichuanese think that its taste is not enough. Then, control the stewed duck to dry, and pour it thoroughly with boiling oil repeatedly until the skin is crisp and the color is brownish red.

The last step is the key to the sweet-skinned duck: brush caramel while the oil temperature on the duck skin is high and has not cooled. This makes the duck skin redder in color and crisper in texture, and will not soften even after cooling. The sweetness coincides with the roast duck skin dipped in sugar produced by Dadong.

Sichuanese are very particular about it, thinking that sweet-skinned ducks can only be oiled, but not fried whole. In fact, in order to cook at a lower temperature, we only want crispy duck skin without affecting juicy duck meat. Its cooking concept is very close to the roast duck originated in the Central Plains, but people in the Sichuan Basin have used more drastic treatment methods, which is another typical example of China's diversified expression of diet.

Hefei, Anhui: Luzhou roast duck

| has an ancient meaning |

In order to show the "ancient meaning" of roast duck, all localities like to use time-honored brands as their prefixes. Many roast duck restaurants on the streets of Beijing are labeled as "Beiping Roast Duck". Zhucheng Roast Duck calls itself "Mizhou Roast Duck" and Nanjing Roast Duck calls itself "Jinling Sliced Duck".

Of course, it also includes the "Luzhou Roast Duck" in Hefei.

As the capital of Anhui Province, Hefei is inextricably linked with Nanjing, the former provincial capital. Roast duck is one of them. Like Nanjing roast duck, the legend of Luzhou roast duck often points to Zhu Yuanzhang, an Anhui native.

However, unlike the famous Beijing roast duck and Nanjing roast duck, Luzhou roast duck takes a more people-friendly route. Few people who live in Hefei have not eaten at the old Luzhou roast duck restaurant. Moreover, the biggest feature of this store is not the roast duck itself, but the duck oil dumplings and duck oil biscuits made with duck oil as the main material, which are by-products of roast duck.

The so-called duck oil dumplings are steamed buns filled with roast duck oil instead of jelly; Duck oil sesame cake is a thousand-layer sesame cake made of duck oil crisp, which contains the rich flavor of roast duck and is also animal fat. It is much more delicious than the old lady cake with butter crisp and lard crisp.

Nanjing, Jiangsu: Xingdian Roast Duck

| Rosin has a strong taste |

China Roast Duck is roughly divided into two factions, so these two factions can only be authentic in Nanjing and Beijing.

However, the most representative Nanjing roast duck is Xingdian Town in Jiangpu District.

Xingdian Town is a place where Hui people live in compact communities, and catering is the main livelihood of Hui people. Since the mid-Qing Dynasty, the cooked food made by the Hui people in Xingdian is very famous, especially the Muslim roast duck.

The characteristic of halal food is to pay attention to hygiene. After the handcuffs are cut and slaughtered, in addition to washing the hair, it is necessary to repeatedly wash and add salt to remove blood stains until the blood stains are invisible to the naked eye. This kind of near-clean cleaning process is difficult for ordinary hotels to do.

The finished product Xingdian Muslim roast duck, the duck skin is red to black diamond, and the oil is seen when cutting. Nanjing roast duck is generally not as complicated as Beijing roast duck. Cut it into pieces and put it on a plate, and put it directly on a bowl of white rice, which is very delicious. For people with heavy taste, the juice naturally roasted in the process of roast duck is mixed with soy sauce, and mixed with sweet and sour to make brine, which has a unique pine nut flavor.

It would be even better if you use roast duck brine to bibimbap.

Chenzhou, Hunan: Liaojiang Roast Duck

| Southern Hub |

Chenzhou, Hunan is connected with Shaoguan, Guangdong. Geographically speaking, Chenzhou already belongs to the Pearl River Delta region south of Nanling.

However, Lijiang Town under the jurisdiction of Chenzhou has another name of "Little Nanjing" in the local area. In addition to the complex water network composed of Liaohe River, leishui River and Xiangjiang River, it has also become an important water transport hub, with the same appearance as Nanjing. In addition, the specialty roast duck here has great similarities with Nanjing roast duck.

The reason can be traced back to the early Ming Dynasty. In order to strengthen control over the south and eliminate the remnants of the late Yuan Dynasty, after reunification, Zhu Yuanzhang set up Chenzhou Prefecture in southern Hunan and stationed a large number of soldiers. The skill of roast duck may have spread to Chenzhou at that time, and then spread from this Nanling portal, affecting the roast duck in Guangdong and Yunnan later.

In addition, it is said that Beijing Cheap Square Roast Duck was founded by He Xiao, a senior official in the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty, after his retirement. He is also from Chenzhou, Hunan. If the legend is true, then the real ancestor of Beijing roast duck should be Chenzhou roast duck.

Liao Jiang roast duck is eaten in the same way as Nanjing roast duck. The only thing that needs special attention is that local people should eat roast duck with a white dew wine. This kind of rice wine, which looks like fermented grains and tastes slightly sweet, has the function of refreshing and relieving boredom. Bailu wine may be the best side dish in front of Nanpai roast duck without onion and lotus leaf cake.

Guangzhou, Guangdong: Cantonese roast duck

The ultimate taste |

Roast duck is roast duck because it is different from Beijing roast duck and Nanjing roast duck in making and eating.

Starting from the raw materials, roast ducks in other regions should be filled with fat ducks, but Cantonese roast ducks use white-haired ducks for about a month, which is actually a routine of roast suckling pigs to pursue the delicacy of duck meat.

Baking wood is also very particular. Cantonese-style roast duck does not use fruit wood with fierce firepower, nor does it use jujube wood which is mainly fumigated. Twenty local materials are litchi and pine. Half-baked and half-smoked, you will get a compound fragrance.

Sauce is the soul of Cantonese roast duck. Pour the sauce made of rose dew, yellow wine, spiced powder, honey, white vinegar and meat and bone soup into the duck's stomach and sew it carefully with needle and thread. Create an effect of roasting outside and cooking inside, and taste the taste of meat. Cantonese people often think that Beijing roast duck "smells like a duck when it is cold, but Guangdong roast duck is still delicious when it is cold" because the sauce has been tasted.

Judging from the positioning of ingredients, Beijing roast duck is often regarded as the main dish of senior banquets, while Cantonese roast duck is a delicious food full of amorous feelings. A few pieces of roast duck are spread on the rice and poured with a spoonful of juice, which is a full bowl of roast duck rice; If you use a duck rack to cook soup, put a pinch of rice flour and two pieces of duck meat, which is the roast duck powder in the nightingale stall.

Kunming, Yunnan: Yiliang Roast Duck

| Nantian flavor |

There are two kinds of roast duck signs on the streets of Kunming. "Yiliang Roast Duck" and "Dianyi Roast Duck" are actually the same thing.

According to folklore, the roast duck in Yunnan was first cooked by Fu Youde, a general under Zhu Yuanzhang, and was created in Yiliang County under the jurisdiction of Kunming.

This legend may not be credible. In fact, the earliest historical record of making roast duck in Yiliang County began in the early Qing Dynasty. It is not difficult to find out that Yunnan-Guizhou area is the last stubborn area of Nanming regime. Locals implicitly remember the former dynasty with roast duck, which best represents the Ming Dynasty and Zhu regime.

It is said to be roast duck, but Yiliang roast duck is made closer to Guangdong roast duck: a one-month-old tender duck, roasted with open fire and cut into pieces.

Because Kunming is more than 2000 meters above sea level, it belongs to plateau area, and its liquid boiling point is low. Therefore, compared with the plain area, the roast duck needs longer time and lower temperature to finish, so the meat quality of Yiliang roast duck also has a crisp taste different from other areas.

Good Yiliang roast duck doesn't need to be cut. As long as you shake the duck leg, the meat and bones will naturally loosen and separate. You can also see its taste from this detail.

end

The best way to eat

At the end of the movie world without thieves, Rene Liu wept while eating roast duck, which is the most classic scene of this movie.

China's diet retains the tradition of separate meals and pays attention to eating lively. It is lonely to think about eating hot pot and roast duck alone.

Therefore, whether it's Beipai roast duck or Nanpai roast duck, the best way to eat it is, of course, three or five friends, pushing a cup for a change and sipping a table of duck neck, duck skin, duck breast, duck gizzard, duck tongue, duck claw, duck wing and duck leg.