Local Cuisine
Peking Roasted Duck
Along with the grand view of the Great Wall, travelers to Peking shouldn’t miss trying the Peking Roasted Duck. To enjoy the famous duck, the restaurant Quan Ju De is the best choice for you. It has multiple outlets in Peking (Beijing). The old restaurant first opened in 1860. The duck here is said to be the best in Peking, and the service is very good as well.
Before you take up the menu, you might want to know more about how Peking Roasted Duck is made and how it is served. The ducks are raised for the sole purpose of making the food. Force-fed, they are kept in cages which restrain them from moving about, so as to fatten them up and make the meat comparably tender. Peking Roasted Duck is processed in several steps: first the ducks are rubbed with spices, salt and sugar, and then kept hung in the air for some time. Then the ducks are roasted in an oven, or hung over the fire till they become brown with rich grease perspiring outside and have a nice odor.
Peking Duck is always served in well-cut slices. The whole duck must be sliced into 120 pieces and every piece has to be perfect with the complete layers of the meat. Normally there are many dishes served with the duck, including a dish of fine-cut shallot bars, a dish of cucumber bars and finally a dish of paste-like soy of fermented wheat flour. Without these the dainty duck is surely in the shade.
When first served Peking Duck, it is possible that you will hesitated to take up my chopsticks, not knowing what to begin with. There is a knack to it: first, pick up a slice of duck with the help of a pair of chopsticks and dip it into the soy paste. Next, lay it on the top of a thin cake and add some bars of cucumber and shallot. Finally, wrap the stuff into a bundle with the sheet cake (a thin pancake). The real secret of Peking duck’s flavor lies in your carefully nibbling away at the mixture. You will find all the different ingredients very compatible. Of course, beer is the popular drink for the dinner. It helps to fade away the greasiness of the duck. But it is not necessary to order extra soup, for the duck-bone soup is always included in you order. It will be served as the rear dish for the dinner.
when you enter the duck restaurants of Quan Ju De, you will found the services there are very good. The clean and well-decorated rooms and the character of the waiters and waitresses impressed you quite deeply. We hope you will enjoy the delicacy of the Roasted Duck when you travel in Beijing . But don’t forget to practise dealing with chopsticks before you enter Quan Ju De.
Chinese Dumpling (JiaoZi)
A common legend goes that Jiaozi means the transition from old to new in ancient Madarin. By making and eating Jiaozi, the family can get rid of the bad luck and get bless from god. So Jiaozi is an important dish in Chinese New Year and Chinese culture.
Jiaozi also symbolizes wealth for its special gold-ingot-shape. Traditionally, extended family members will gather together to make dumplings on Chinese New Year’s Eve. They may hide a coin in one of the dumplings. The member who gets the dumpling with the coin will likely have a good fortune in the next year.
Chinese dumpling generally consists of minced meat and finely chopped vegetables wrapped into a piece of dough skin. You can make a variety of Chinese dumplings using different fillings based on your taste and how various ingredients mixed togetherby you.
During the long history of Jiaozi, it shapes and develops into various forms. Till Tang Dynasty, the shape of Jiaozi almost comes to the same shape of curret Chinese Dumplings. Ancient Changan (nowadays Xian) is the economic and cultural center in Tang Dynasty. The Dumpling Banquet may be traced back in ancient Xian at Tang Dynasty. Originally, dumpling banquet consisted of 108 forms of dumplings, and develops over the amount till today. Although international friends may not understand the moral of each Jiaozi, it will not affect their interest in those cute and delicious Chinese dumplings.
Jiaozi, nowdays are more than a traditional dish in the eye of China, it is also the namecard and window of Chinese culture. The dumpling banquet is the special greetings sent to the faraway friends from Ancient city of Xian. We hope you will enjoy the delicacy of the Chinese Dumpling and fun of making dumplings when you travel in China.
Hot Pot
Hot pot or also known as Chinese fondue is always good to enjoy no matter in hot summer or cold winter. In China, hot pot has a history over 1000 years and until now, it is still the most popular dish for social or family gathering. It firstly appeared in Mongolia area and then became popular in South part of China in Tang Dynasty. And now it becomes quite popular in China and people from different areas spread their own types of hot pot out. Then do you know where the hot pot city of China is now? The hot pot city is Chongqing, a municipality under Sichuan area. Many people like spicy hot pot very much. Spicy hot pot is a quite unique type of Sichuan cuisine. Firstly, the taste and flavor is succeeded from Sichuan cuisine including many seasonings used. However it is not the same with commonly Sichuan dishes. Anyway, hot pot is originated from Sichuan and quite popular in Sichuan area.
