What is the origin, genre, practice and eating method of Beijing roast duck? Please elaborate. Thank you very much

Beijing roast duck is a famous food in Beijing, which is famous at home and abroad for its bright color, tender meat, mellow taste and fat but not greasy.

origin

According to legend, the beauty of roast duck comes from the precious Beijing roast duck, which is the best meat duck in the world today. It is said that the breeding of this special pure white Beijing duck began about 1000 years ago. Because of the hunting of emperors in Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, this kind of pure white wild duck was occasionally acquired and raised for hunting, and it continued until it was acquired and cultivated into today's precious meat duck variety. That is, a white duck fattened by feeding method, hence the name "stuffed duck". Not only that, Beijing duck spread to Europe and America a hundred years ago, and it became a blockbuster after breeding. Therefore, Beijing duck, as a high-quality breed, has long been the source of rare duck breeds in the world.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties over 400 years, the word "roast duck" appeared in the records of food treasures. In the Southern Song Dynasty, roast duck was a famous product in Lin 'an (Hangzhou). At that time, roast duck has not only become a folk delicacy, but also a rare delicacy in literati's homes. However, according to the Records of the History of Yuan Dynasty, after the Yuan Dynasty broke Lin 'an, Bo Yan, a general of the Yuan Dynasty, moved Lin 'an's skills to Dadu (Beijing). As a result, roast duck technology spread to Beijing, and roast duck became one of the treasures of the Forbidden City. With the change of dynasties, roast duck became a delicacy in Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, roast duck was still a necessary dish for the Lantern Festival in the palace, and was later officially named "Beijing Roast Duck". With the development of society, Beijing roast duck gradually spread from the palace to the people.

school

After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the reputation of Beijing Roast Duck is increasing day by day, and it is even more famous in the world. It is said that Premier Zhou appreciated and paid attention to this famous dish before his death, entertaining foreign guests and tasting roast duck. In order to meet the needs of social development, the baking operation of duck shops has been modernized and the flavor is more delicious.

Quanjude is the most brilliant roast duck family, which has established the image ambassador status of Beijing roast duck family. Yang, the founder of Quanjude, is a small businessman who deals in raw chickens and ducks. After accumulating capital, he founded Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant, and hired a roast duck master who had worked in the imperial dining hall of the Qing Dynasty to refine roast duck with the court's "hanging roast duck" technology, so that "hanging roast duck" flourished among the people. Quanjude adopts hanging oven baking method, and does not open ducks. Just open a small hole in the duck, take out the internal organs, then pour boiling water into the duck's stomach, then tie up the small hole and hang it on the fire for roasting. This method will not make the duck lose water due to roasting, but also make the duck skin swell without softening. The skin of roast duck is very thin and brittle, which makes it the most delicious part of roast duck. The hanging furnace has a furnace hole and no furnace door, and uses jujube, pear and other fruit trees as fuel and open flame. Fruit wood is smokeless when fired, with strong primer and long burning time. After the duck enters the furnace, the position of the duck should be changed regularly with a pole, so that the duck is heated evenly and roasted all over. Roast duck is plump in appearance, purple in color, crisp in skin, tender in appearance and rich in fruit aroma, which makes it more delicious when tasted carefully. Strictly speaking, only this roasting method is called Beijing roast duck.

Compared with hanging roast duck, braised roast duck represented by cheap square seems less impressive. Fortunately, Cheap Square, a time-honored brand with a history of nearly 600 years, applied for "national intangible cultural heritage protection" with the skill of braised roast duck. Compared with the reputation of Quanjude, the cheap roast duck, which was founded in Yongle period of Ming Dynasty, actually has an earlier history, which has been nearly 600 years. The so-called "stewing furnace" is actually a kind of ground furnace. The furnace body is made of bricks and is about one meter square in size. Its production method was first introduced to Beijing from the south, characterized by "ducks can't see open flames", and it is made by stewing charcoal fire in the furnace and heating the furnace wall. Because dark fire is used, the technical requirements are high. The person in charge of the stove must know the temperature in the stove. If the temperature is too high, the duck will be cooked, and vice versa. The skin of braised roast duck is bright and crisp, the meat is white and tender, and it tastes delicious. Stewing roast duck is the signature of cheap square, but the stewing stove for burning straw has long been changed to electric stewing stove. At present, few roast duck restaurants use stewing stoves, and most roast duck restaurants use Quanjude hanging stoves. The stewed roast duck tastes tender, and the juice of duck skin is obviously richer and fuller. But the fruity smell of roast duck seems to make people realize the wisdom of the earliest "roasting" cooking method mastered by human beings.

Nowadays, hanging roast duck and stewed roast duck are two major schools of Beijing roast duck. Just as Beijing Roast Duck improved Shandong Roast Duck, now many restaurants that make roast duck have improved these two traditional schools to adapt to modern people's tastes and consumption concepts. For example, the key interpretation of eating roast duck skin, such as the duck varieties specially selected by Xiaowangfu, and even the replacement of shredded onion with cucumber strips in many places are all good improvements. As for the gold foil roast duck made in some places, it is a bit mysterious.

prepare

1. Raw material treatment: 2.5-3kg healthy ducks are selected, slaughtered and bled by three-section method, and scalded with water at 55-60℃ for about 3 minutes. Scalding and grooming should be light and fast, and the hair should be clean and not hurt the skin. Then make a small incision under the duck's wing, take out the internal organs, and take action when taking the internal organs.

2. blanching: blanch the duck with caramel boiling water from top to bottom for 3-4 times, and then water the duck with sugar water. Sugar water is generally made of caramel and water in the ratio of 1:6-7.

3. Blank cooling: hang the scalded duck in a cool and ventilated place and dry the duck skin. Generally, the temperature will drop 24 hours in spring and autumn and 4-6 hours in summer.

4. Roasting: First, plug the duck's anus and pour boiling water from the knife edge of the neck. This is called filling soup, then coloring it, and then entering the oven. Jujube is the best wood for Beijing roast duck, followed by peach, apricot and pear. After the wood is ignited, the roast duck can be cooked when the furnace temperature rises above 200℃. The temperature of roast duck is the key. Generally, the furnace temperature is controlled between 250℃ and 300℃. In the process of roasting, it usually takes about 30 minutes to adjust the orientation of the duck according to its bad color. You can also judge the cooking degree according to the color in the cavity of roast duck. When the soup is pink, it means that the duck is 7-8 minutes cooked.

Brush a layer of sesame oil immediately after the duck is roasted to increase the brightness of the duck skin.

The way to eat

Beijing roast duck has become a world-famous American food. Gourmets in past dynasties ate Beijing roast duck, and they were very particular about it. It seems that if they don't eat like this, they won't show the authentic flavor. To sum up, there are four main points:

(1) Pay attention to the season:

Roast duck must be eaten in the right season, and bad season will affect the taste. Taste advocates that it is best to eat roast duck in winter, spring and autumn. The reason is that Beijing ducks in winter and spring are fresh and tender; Autumn is crisp, the temperature and humidity are especially suitable for roast duck, and the ducks at this time are also relatively fat. The summer climate is hot and the air humidity is high. At this time, Beijing duck meat is thin and thin, and its quality is poor. The skin of roast duck roots easily (that is, it is not brittle), so it tastes bad.

(2) Pay attention to the slicing method:

Because slicing is good, not only the shape of the dish is better, but also the taste is more beautiful. After the roast duck is roasted, cut off the skin and put it on a plate before the duck breast collapses. Duck meat at this time is crisp and delicious in your mouth. The practice of duck slices is also very particular. Slice the duck skin while it's hot. It's crispy and delicious. Then eat a piece of duck. Second, there is a piece with meat, which is thin but not broken. A duck weighing 2 kg can cut more than 100 slices of duck meat, with uniform size, such as the taste of clove leaves, crisp, fragrant and smooth, and unique flavor.

(3) Pay attention to seasoning:

Why can't roast duck be eaten directly? This is because ducks are fat, so eating them directly will be very greasy. At present, there are three main ways to eat Beijing roast duck, and the ingredients are different. The first one: pick a little sweet noodle sauce with chopsticks, put it on the lotus leaf cake, put some roast duck slices, put some onion strips, cucumber strips or radish strips, and roll up the lotus leaf cake. This is the most common way to eat. The second kind: garlic sauce, or radish strips. Garlic paste can relieve greasy taste. Dip the sliced roast duck into garlic paste and soy sauce, which adds a touch of spicy taste and makes the flavor more unique. Third: Some customers don't like onions and garlic, but they like crispy duck dipped in fine sugar. This way of eating is especially suitable for ladies and children. It is understood that eating roast duck is also nutritious. According to professionals, roast duck is often eaten with green onions, garlic and cucumber strips. , not only can balance acid and alkali, but also vitamin C and dietary fiber in these foods can lower cholesterol, increase fibrinolytic activity and help digestion. The first seasoning method is the most commonly used at present, and the sweet noodle sauce used in it is produced by Beijing "Liubiju", otherwise the taste will not be regarded as authentic.

(4) Pay attention to diet:

There are two kinds of food commonly used to eat roast duck, one is lotus leaf cake; One is hollow sesame seed cake. You can peel off two pieces of lotus leaf cake, coat each piece with sweet noodle sauce, then add onion, cucumber strips, (or green radish strips) and roast duck slices, or coat garlic paste, soy sauce, cucumber strips (or green radish strips), and then clip the roast duck slices and roll them up to eat. In the early years, Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant also prepared a kind of millet porridge cooked with barley and red beans all the year round. This kind of millet porridge is bright in color, smooth and refreshing. Drinking a small bowl of this special millet porridge after eating roast duck will definitely bring you great comfort.

Lotus leaf cakes, also known as white pancakes, flour pancakes, burritos, pancakes and steamed buns, vary in size. The large diameter can exceed 25cm, and the small one is only the size of a palm. It is a traditional snack that both urban and rural people in Shaanxi like to eat. All hotels and restaurants have it, and buffets can also be seen.

Lotus leaf cake evolved from "white cake" in Qin and Han dynasties, and has a history of more than 2000 years. There is a record of "lotus leaf cake" in Tokyo dream in Song Dynasty. According to "Tiaoding Collection" in Qing Dynasty, "Pancake: a small tin can made by Qin people, containing 30 cakes, one can for each guest, as small as an orange, with a lid, which can be stored. The stuffing is fried shredded pork, as thin as hair, and so is the onion. It is used by pigs and sheep and is called' cake'. " It can be seen that the pancakes made by Shaanxi "Qin people" are now lotus leaf cakes. Generally, cake blanks with plain oil in the middle are stacked and baked flat, and two can be baked at a time, so that the production speed is faster, the baked lotus leaf cakes are softer and the fire color is reduced. From the reel of lotus leaf cake, it is also colorful, which can be rolled into vegetarian or meat. Vegetarian dishes include bean sprouts, mung bean sprouts, bowl bean sprouts, shredded potatoes, fried sauerkraut, pickles, vermicelli, leeks, fried soybeans and shredded eggs. Meat dishes include cooked shredded belly, shredded chicken, pork, beef, shredded mutton and shredded lung. With a plate of tender onion and a plate of sweet noodle sauce, it will be more delicious if you participate in the sliced roast duck.

Flavor characteristics: yellowish in color, soft and fragrant, used to wrap other vegetarian dishes, often used for banquets and home-cooked snacks.