China's most famous dish — a whole duck lacquered with a sweet glaze, air-dried for hours, then roasted until the skin crackles and shatters; served tableside with the sliced crispy skin separately from the meat, both wrapped in thin pancakes with hoisin sauce, sliced cucumber, and spring onions.
The skin
Peking duck is famous for its skin — lacquered to a deep mahogany colour and roasted until it becomes extraordinarily thin, crisp, and brittle, shattering like glass when bitten. Achieving this requires a series of careful preparation steps: the duck is inflated with air to separate skin from fat, blanched, coated with the glaze, then air-dried for at least 12 hours (often 24–48 hours in commercial kitchens) before roasting in a closed oven over fruit-wood fire.
Restaurant service
In Beijing’s famous Peking duck restaurants (Quanjude dates from 1864), the duck is carved tableside by trained chefs. The skin is presented first, separately from the meat — diners eat the skin with the pancakes immediately while it is at peak crispness. The meat follows. The carcass may be made into a soup served at the end of the meal.
The pancake wrap
The classic accompaniment is a thin, soft wheat pancake (bao bing). The pancake is spread with hoisin sauce, a slice or two of crispy skin or duck meat is added, then a few batons of cucumber and spring onion, and the whole is rolled into a cylinder and eaten in two or three bites.
Imperial history
Peking duck is documented in Chinese imperial court cuisine from at least the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). The Yongle Emperor is credited with popularising it during the Ming dynasty. It has been central to formal Chinese banquet cuisine for over 600 years.