China - Day one: Peking Duck

Because we had nothing but a meager airplane lunch (we prioritized an extra 10 minutes sleep over breakfast), we were starved by now and thankfully, after all the sigh-seeing and modeling, Peking Duck was on the menu!

The world “Peking” use to be the original name of Beijing before it was changed in 1949 and because this lovely dish is the local “flavor” of BJ, it was only adequate that the duck was named after the city. Peking Duck has been prepared since the imperial era and today it is considered as one of China’s national foods. This yummy meal is prized for the thin, crispy duck skin, with authentic version of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the diners by the cook. Ducks bred specially for this dish are slaughtered after 65 days (poor ducks) and seasoned before being roasted in an oven. The cooked meat is eaten with tortilla styled pancakes, spring onions and sweet bean sauce.

Our Peking Duck, which was served with lots of other veggies and meats  and the customary pot of jasmine tea that beautify every mealtime table, was delicious and we all gobbled our duck pancakes down with glee. But if I had to be completely honest, Peking Duck, famous as it may be, was not my favorite meal in China. (Un)fortunately, the lovely Mongolian meal we had, with its Rosemary beef and pop concert (I will tell you all about this later), earned the “Favorite Chinese Food” award…. (to be continued)