Peking Duck, Anyone?

Courtesy of Lindsey Dawson.

If you’re going to try the most famous Chinese dish in the world, then what better place to go than the place that keeps on winning awards for the best Peking Duck in Peking? That’s DaDong in Beijing. (Peking or Beijing – it’s all the same buzzing city, the difference being just a matter of the way Chinese characters are spelled out in English.)

DaDong has several restaurants. The one we went to was rigged out with oddly feminine touches, featuring a pink feature wall, crystal chandeliers and filmy white drapes pinned back with pink flowers. But there was nothing girlie about the service, which was fast and masterly.

Reservations are a must. Just turning up can put you in a long queue – and when you see clusters of would-be customers hanging about then you know you’re in for treat.

DaDong’s farmed white ducks are reputed to be leaner than at other restaurants. The trick with this dish that the birds are glazed with syrup before being hung up to roast. This gives the skin that tight, dark red, trademark look – and renders it extremely scrummy.

Out it comes soon after you’ve ordered, and a solemn man with a razor-sharp knife carves it beside your able. Soon you have platters of thinly sliced meat before you, plus dishes of condiments.

Next, a pretty waitperson darts around the table to show each guest the right way to prepare their morsels.

It’s hard to wait while that’s going on but never mind – it’s your chance to indulge in the classic duck starter, dipping pieces of crisp, ruddy skin into the dish of coarse sugar crystals at your elbow. Oh, so sinful. Oh, so good.

Then comes the lesson. Your assistant puts a small, translucent pancake before you and, using chopsticks, delicately fills it with small amounts of divinely tasty things – a few slices of tender meat, strips of cucumber, rock melon, a smear of sweet bean sauce , a touch of creamy garlic, some tiny salty pickles. Then she expertly folds over the sides of the pancake with precision to create a neat, sweet package. Eager consumption follows.

If duck doesn’t do it for you, there are loads of other dishes to try once you’ve fathomed the massive 99-page menu with its gorgeous colour photos.  

Go on, try something new….perhaps Deep Fried Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish in Shape of Squirrel, or Sea Cucumber Intestines with Pepper. Or Sautéed Turtle in Stone Pot? It all looks amazing.

We somehow managed to fit in some prawn, chicken and beef dishes and a dainty serving of the best fresh peas I’ve ever had, followed by a fruit sorbet with lychees on a bed of dry ice.

You may read a little online scoffing of DaDong from some who think such touches make it too touristy and overdone – and too expensive with each bird costing close to $NZ40. But the place was packed with more Chinese than Europeans and as we left, more were pouring in…always a good sign. If we lived there we’d do what the locals do – take home uneaten duck to turn into soup.

PS I was so busy eating at DaDong I failed to take pictures. The ones you see here are from excellent Australian food blog, The Indolent Cook .

Air New Zealand flies direct to Shanghai five times weekly.

For further information and to book visit www.airnewzealand.co.nz

By Lindsey Dawson