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Peking Duck
北京烤鸭 · Běijīng Kǎoyā
Roasted duck with crisp skin, served sliced with thin pancakes, scallions, cucumber and sweet bean sauce.
Peking duck is one of the most technically demanding dishes in Chinese cooking, and one of the few that is treated as a formal occasion meal by Chinese diners themselves rather than as an everyday dish dressed up for tourists. The production process takes two days: the slaughtered duck is pumped with air to separate skin from fat, scalded to tighten the skin, coated with a maltose-vinegar glaze, then hung for 24 hours or more in a ventilated space to dry the skin to a near-parchment texture. The dry skin is what allows the subsequent roasting to produce a crackling without burning.
Traditional roasting uses a wood-burning barrel-shaped oven and hanging-method (gua lu) in which the duck is suspended above the fire, receiving radiant heat rather than direct flame. Fruit woods (apple, pear, date) are preferred for their aromatic quality. Commercial restaurants increasingly use gas, which is controllable but lacks the smoke character.
At the table: the chef slices the duck in a prescribed order, first presenting the prized pure-skin sections (served with sugar, to eat as a first course), then thin slices of skin-plus-meat. The ritual is to spread sweet bean sauce (tian mian jiang) on a thin wheat pancake, add a slice of duck, shredded scallion and cucumber matchsticks, roll and eat.
The duck carcass is taken back to the kitchen and typically returns as a soup course. Bianyifang (founded 1416, the oldest surviving duck house) uses a different closed-oven technique; Quanjude (1864) the hanging method. Da Dong, opened 1985, popularised a leaner, more elegant presentation.
Where to try
Beijing: Quanjude (the largest chain, 1864-founded), Bianyifang (older, 1416-founded), Da Dong (modern fine-dining version).
Dietary notes
Duck, wheat, soy.
Regional variants
Quanjude style uses the hung-oven (gua lu) method — duck suspended over an open fruit-wood fire — producing a drier skin and leaner finish historically served to the imperial court. Bianyifang style uses an enclosed brick oven (men lu) heated by sorghum stalks then extinguished before the duck goes in; residual radiant heat gives softer skin. Da Dong style is a modern light presentation with reduced fat. Cantonese roast duck (广东烧鸭) is a separate southern tradition — different marinade and roasting method.
Where the name comes from
北京烤鸭 běijīng kǎoyā translates plainly as "Beijing roast duck". The dish traces to the Yuan-dynasty imperial kitchen in the 13th century — an early recipe appears in the 1330 court manual Yinshan Zhengyao — was formalised in the Ming courts after the capital moved to Beijing in 1421 and reached the merchant class through Qing-era restaurants. Bianyifang was founded in 1416 and Quanjude in 1864.
Pairings
Served with thin wheat pancakes (春饼 chūnbǐng), julienned spring onion and cucumber matchsticks and a hoisin-based sweet bean sauce (甜面酱 tián miàn jiàng). The prized pure-skin slices are sometimes eaten first dipped in fine sugar. Drink pairings are Yanjing beer — the Beijing brewery founded 1980 — Zhangyu wine from Shandong or a lightly oxidised oolong tea to cut the fat.
Where to learn to cook it
Beijing cooking schools including the Chef Gao Cooking School teach the roasting sequence to visitors. The technical crux is the 24-72 hour air-drying stage that renders the skin to near-parchment before roasting — kitchen humidity and airflow matter more than oven skill. A hanging barrel oven fired with fruit wood is not practical in most home kitchens. Simplified home versions using a conventional oven and store-bought pancakes are documented on YouTube.
Common misconceptions
It is not the same dish as Cantonese roast duck (广东烧鸭) — different marinade, different oven, different flavour profile. The skin is the star of the meal not the meat; the pure-skin slices are traditionally served first with sugar. The meat is often carried back to the kitchen and returned as a separate course — a stir-fry with bean sprouts or a soup made from the carcass. The head, feet and organs are typically included.
Cities to try Peking Duck
Other north dishes
- Beijing Lamb Hot Pot涮羊肉
Beijing-Mongolian style hot pot — clear broth, thinly-sliced lamb, sesame-paste dipping sauce.
- Boiled Dumplings (Shuijiao)水饺
Wheat-wrapper dumplings filled with pork-and-cabbage, lamb-and-leek, or vegetable, boiled and served with vinegar.
- Cat's Ear Noodles猫耳朵
Small thumbnail-pinched Shanxi pasta, shaped like cat's ears. Stir-fried with vegetables or in soup.
- Goubuli Baozi狗不理包子
Tianjin's signature steamed pork buns. The original house, founded 1858, is still operating.
More Northern dishes
- Baijiu白酒
China's high-strength distilled grain spirit — the country's dominant drinking culture, ranging from fiery to complex and floral.
- Beijing Lamb Hot Pot涮羊肉
Beijing-Mongolian style hot pot — clear broth, thinly-sliced lamb, sesame-paste dipping sauce.
- Boiled Dumplings (Shuijiao)水饺
Wheat-wrapper dumplings filled with pork-and-cabbage, lamb-and-leek, or vegetable, boiled and served with vinegar.
- Goubuli Baozi狗不理包子
Tianjin's signature steamed pork buns. The original house, founded 1858, is still operating.
- Hand-Grasped Lamb手抓羊肉
Large bone-in lamb pieces boiled in spiced water and eaten by hand — a communal dish of Inner Mongolia and the northwest.
- Jianbing (Savoury Crepe)煎饼
Northern Chinese breakfast crepe: thin wheat-and-mung-bean batter, egg, scallion, hoisin, chilli, optional crispy cracker.
- Mantou馒头
Plain steamed leavened wheat buns — the everyday bread of northern China, eaten at all meals.
- Sour Plum Drink酸梅汤
A chilled drink of sour plums, hawthorn berries and rock sugar — Beijing's traditional summer refreshment.