The origin of Beijing roast duck

When it comes to Beijing's delicious food, Beijing roast duck may be the first thing that comes to mind. People all over the country know Quanjude, and old Beijingers know more about cheap shops. The reputation of Beijing roast duck has also crossed the ocean, and it is said that it is deeply loved by politicians in Europe and America such as Kissinger and Blair. So today, let's talk about the history of Beijing roast duck.

First, Nanya and Beidukou.

If you want to talk about the history of Beijing roast duck, you have to talk about the history of this roast duck first. The roast duck we are talking about now was originally called "roast duck". The earliest record in the literature was in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the roast duck was really "roasted": put the live duck in a big cage, pile up charcoal fire, pour the sauce while running, and finally roast it alive and pull it down. I have to say that this way of eating is too fierce, and ducks must be desperate before they die. Later, in the Yuan Dynasty, Dr. Hu Sihui had a book "Eating", which mentioned the practice of "roast duck": "One wild goose (duck), one with hair removed, one with intestines removed, one with belly removed, washed and wrapped with two onions and one or two parsley." It can be seen that this practice is much more "civilized" than the Tang Dynasty, but it is still very different from today's roast duck.

Beijing roast duck, which we are familiar with today, should have been born in the Ming Dynasty at the earliest. However, this kind of roast duck is not native to Beijing, but was introduced from Nanjing. As we all know, the capital of the Ming Dynasty was first established in Nanjing, and it was not until the Yongle Dynasty that it moved to Beijing. And this way of hanging roast duck was spread from Nanjing to Beijing at this time. The specific time is recorded as the 14th year of Yongle (14 16), and the first fair-price store was opened in Beijing Mishi Hutong in the Ming Dynasty. It is said that the plaque in front of the store also has the word "Jinling". It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the article "Ji Sheng at the age of Emperor Jingdi" read "Duck in the south furnace, roast piglets, hang donkey meat ...", which shows that this "duck in the south crosses the north" is conclusive. Yongle's old cheap square became the originator of Beijing roast duck today.

Except for Beijing natives, when most foreigners hear Beijing roast duck, the first thing they think of is Quanjude, and they may not be familiar with this cheap shop. Of course, people in Jinan may also know about cheap shops, but they always think that they sell pot stickers there. This topic will be discussed later. So what about here? Let me introduce you to the roast duck in this fair price square first.

Different from the well-known hanging roast duck in Quanjude, the traditional cheap square at that time was braised roast duck. The so-called "two less and three less pots, braised ducks and roasted pigs" refers to this practice. The stove for stewing roast duck was originally made of bricks, with three, four and seven floors. Characterized by no open flame. No matter what kind of fuel is used, bake the furnace wall to gray, then put the duck in the furnace and close the oven door. Ducks will be cooked by the heat of the furnace wall, and they can't open the oven door or turn over the ducks. The advantage of this roasting method is that the duck is heated evenly and consumes less oil, but it does require very high skills and experience of the master. This is also an important reason why the development of cheap stores is not as good as that of Quanjude, and it is too difficult to train talents.