Roast Duck, Beijing 北京烤鸭

<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=anestofo-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1743214057&asins=1743214057&linkId=LY5R2KHKCJ5KVLWD&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 120px;"></iframe>With China bullet train, Beijing - also the gateway to Forbidden City 紫禁城, Temple of Heaven 天坛, Summer Palace 颐和园- all UNESCO World Heritage Sites with footprints of the Ming and Qing dynasty (Qing being the last imperial dynasty of China) - is less than five hours from <a href="http://teczcape.blogspot.com/2015/08/yu-cuisine-zhengzhou-henan-china.html">Zhengzhou, Henan</a>. <br /><br />Some say mutton hotpot 涮羊肉 is a must when visiting Beijing. But it was summer and hotpot was really not enticing in sweltering heat!<br /><br />Others say, the visit to Beijing is not complete if you miss the Great Wall or Beijing Roast Duck. We did both. The Great Wall of China, also UNESCO World Heritage Site, dates back to Qin dynasty (though unfortunately the section from Qin dynasty is already much in ruins) to the existing main wall that dates back to the Ming Dynasty. Spectacular and magnificent the wall is, the only flip-side is the massive crowds walking The Great Wall - BaDaLing entrance.<br /><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/408/20330405535_8ce26f9f1a.jpg " /><br /><br />Though it is not our first time eating Peking Roast Duck, it is our first time  feasting on Peking Roast Duck in Beijing. There are two traditional methods of cooking Peking Roast Duck that have resulted in the two main schools of roast duck preparation: closed-oven method 焖炉 vs open-flame open-oven 挂炉 method.<br /><br />The oldest technique of closed-oven roasting method originated from <a href="http://www.bianyifang.com/">BianYiFang</a> 便宜坊 , established in 1861.<br /><img src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3819/20143719719_fc59d8126c.jpg " /> <br /><br />Way before the trip, we have made plans to have roast duck everyday. Well, Beijing is all about roast duck. And considering our short stay, having roast duck everyday is actually...<i>hmmm</i>....not going overboard or being overly ambitious. There are so many roast duck food establishments in Beijing.<br /><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/460/19707749184_e7754c4eb1.jpg" /><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Duck feast at BianYi Fang: sliced duck pieces with crispy duck skin with moist and succulent duck meat, braised duck liver, duck feet in mustard</span></i><br /><br /><a name="more"></a><br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=anestofo-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B001L5TVGW&asins=B001L5TVGW&linkId=5NT35KF2GSUQ52TY&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 120px;"></iframe>The other traditional method (but still newer than closed-oven roasting) is open-flame open-oven roasting method made famous by QuanJuDe. We did not go to QuanJuDe and tried DaDong 大董烤鴨店 instead, which also uses the open-flame open-oven roasting method but has differentiated itself from QuanJuDe by selling itself on its duck being leaner than other roast duck joints that uses similar open-flame open-oven method. Indeed, the duck skin was super crispy and the meat was lean but the meat especially the duck breast tend to be drier (not as moist compared to the duck breast at BianYiFang). <br /><br />The upscale modern ambiance of DaDong is also a contrast from BianYiFang traditional and comfortable local-dining atmosphere. We prefer BianYiFang for its quality of duck, food and comfort dining to DaDong.<br /><br />Continue reading our <a href="http://teczcape.blogspot.com/2015/08/yu-cuisine-zhengzhou-henan-china.html">China trip</a> <a href="http://teczcape.blogspot.com/2015/08/yu-cuisine-zhengzhou-henan-china.html">here</a>. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: 85%;">Tag: </span><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Beijing+China" rel="tag">Beijing China</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Peking+duck" rel="tag">Peking duck</a> </span><br /><script src="http://static.ak.connect.facebook.com/js/api_lib/v0.4/FeatureLoader.js.php/en_US" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">FB.init("ea808497442c6dbff6ecc79cee2b6ebd"); </script><fb:fan connections="0" logobar="0" profile_id="225194391877" stream="0" width="300"></fb:fan><br /><div style="font-size: 8px; padding-left: 2px;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/An-Escape-to-Food/225194391877">An Escape to Food</a> on Facebook</div>

Roast Duck, Beijing 北京烤鸭

With China bullet train, Beijing - also the gateway to Forbidden City 紫禁城, Temple of Heaven 天坛, Summer Palace 颐和园- all UNESCO World Heritage...

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Yu Cuisine, Zhengzhou, Henan China 豫菜, 郑州河南

Admittedly, I did not appreciate Chinese history when I was young. However, a ten-day trip in China just this end July/early August has become both an eye-opener and educational insight. It started from Zhengzhou 郑州 - Henan province 河南 (considered “中原” central China), explored inwards towards the west of Henan to (1) Xi'An 西安 - Shaanxi province 陕西, Luoyang 洛阳, Dengfeng 登封 then to the eastern side of Henan (2) Kaifeng 开封 and ended in (3) Beijing 北京.<br /><img height="400" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/256/20329142962_d72e4a4a21.jpg" width="315" /><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bottom of this map: Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Kaifeng; top (north of Zhengzhou): Beijing</span></i><br /><br /><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=anestofo-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=1743214057&asins=1743214057&linkId=LY5R2KHKCJ5KVLWD&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 120px;"></iframe>Henan is a good entry and access point into understanding Chinese history, from the first emperor of China (Qin Shi Huang 秦始皇 - Qin<i> </i>Dynasty) to the last emperor of China (Pu Yi 溥仪 - Qing Dynasty).<br /><br />Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan, is well-served and connected by the China high speed rail (some call it bullet train). The <a href="http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/high-speed/zhengzhou-luoyang-xian.htm">Zhengzhou-Xi'An line</a> takes you to Huashan 华山 and Terracotta Warriors 兵马俑 in about three hours while the <a href="http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/beijing-xian-highspeed.htm">Xi'An-Beijing line</a> transports you from Zhengzhou to Beijing in less than five hours. From Zhengzhou, one can also arrange chauffeured car rental limo-service and make separate day trips - one to Shaolin 少林 located in Dengfeng, and Longmen Grotto 龙门石窟 in Luoyang (both on the west side of Henan); and another to Kaifeng (once the capital of Song dynasty, Kaifeng is usually associated with Justice Bao).<br /><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/380/20149548470_89683be8d4.jpg" /> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Bullet train tickets</i></span><br /><br /><span lang="EN-US">As the capital of Henan, Zhengzhou undoubtedly takes Yu cuisine <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/%E8%B1%AB%E8%8F%9C">豫菜</a> as its main cuisine, </span>being one of China's most traditional and oldest cooking styles and <span lang="EN-US">the representative of culinary civilization of Central China.</span><br /><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/416/20304264946_a675c88a1f_o.jpg" /> <br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Meat skewers羊肉串, braised fish maw白扒广肚, Tong Zi Ji 桶子鸡 @Yu Feng Yuan, Zhengzhou 裕丰源, 郑州</span></i><br /><br /><span lang="EN-US">Henan cuisine is characterized by meticulous preparation, and especially known for its delicious broth/soup.</span> One good example is <i>Hui Mian</i> 烩面 - a traditional Henan style of braised hand-pulled noodles dating back more than 800 years, in which the essence lies in the broth. The broth is made from boiling then simmering mutton marrow for at least five hours, resulting in a white brothy soup often called "white soup". When serving, the warm broth is served with noodles, accompanied by ingredients such as soybean strands, mung-bean strands, quail egg and woodear mushrooms. <br /><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/329/20142452470_4f397883e2.jpg" /> <br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hui Mian 烩面 @Yu Feng Yuan, ZhengZhou 裕丰源, 郑州</span></i><br /><br /><i>LiYuBeiMian</i> 鲤鱼焙面 is fried carp in sweet and sour sauce served with super-fine noodles. This is a very traditional dish of Henan and claimed to be one of the ten famous Yu cuisine dishes. <br /><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/291/20149614290_bc9a1d225b.jpg" /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Fried carp in sweet and sour sauce with super-fine noodles, served in a restaurant at KaiFeng</i></span><br /><br /><a name="more"></a>Kaifeng soup dumpling 开封灌汤包 has a very long history over 900 years. They are very similar to <i>XiaoLongBao</i>, with meat and soup fillings in the bun.<br /><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/454/20322090892_78442fe94c.jpg" /> <br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">LiYu BeiMian, Wok-fried eggplant, Kaifeng soup dumplings in Kaifeng</span></i><br /><br />XinYang cuisine 信阳菜 is one of the most common Henan cuisine which has been localized to the area of Xinyang - the southern part of Henan but now easily available across entire Henan. <br /><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/287/20143882019_83593814a2_z.jpg" /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></i><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Braised sharpbelly (a type of carp) 烧白条, wok-fried fish roe 爆炒鱼泡 @Wang Fu Ji, ZhengZhou 王福记 ，郑州</span></i><br /><br />Other Yu traditional dishes in Zhengzhou:<br /><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/554/19707867244_5e249382ba_z.jpg" /> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Vegetables appetizers include lotus roots with vinegar and chili, mint leaves with walnut, carrot "noodles" and sauteed shredded pork in sweet bean sauce also known as Jing Jiang Rousi, @ 豫和馍菜汤，郑州</i></span><br /><br /><img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/464/20330525055_8ed510ebb1.jpg" /> <br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Soybean noodles in broth @ 张福记,郑州</i></span><br /><br />In 张福记 restaurant, we also enjoyed the <i>LongJing</i> prawns (shrimps with <i>LongJing</i> tea leaves), sweet lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice, <i>DongPo </i>Pork, steamed vegetable buns, dumplings in glutinous rice wine.<br /><br />This trip has not only intrigued me historically, it has also introduced me to Yu cuisine - the origin of the different Chinese cuisines such as Cantonese, Szechuan, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hunan cuisines that we are familiar with today.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: 85%;">Tag: </span><span style="font-size: 85%;"><a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Henan+China" rel="tag">Henan China</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Yu+cuisine" rel="tag">Yu cuisine</a> </span><br /><script src="http://static.ak.connect.facebook.com/js/api_lib/v0.4/FeatureLoader.js.php/en_US" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">FB.init("ea808497442c6dbff6ecc79cee2b6ebd"); </script><fb:fan connections="0" logobar="0" profile_id="225194391877" stream="0" width="300"></fb:fan><br /><div style="font-size: 8px; padding-left: 2px;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/An-Escape-to-Food/225194391877">An Escape to Food</a> on Facebook</div>

Yu Cuisine, Zhengzhou, Henan China 豫菜, 郑州河南

Admittedly, I did not appreciate Chinese history when I was young. However, a ten-day trip in China just this end July/early August has beco...

Read more »