Written and hosted by Christopher St. Cavish. Filmed and edited by Graeme Kennedy (@GraemeDYK).
With special thanks to Sheng Yong Xing, Li Weihang and the Omnivore’s Table.
Peking duck has never been a fixed thing. From the moment it became a dish, it has been changing along with technology, labor and people’s tastes.
In this episode, I go inside Sheng Yong Xing, one of Beijing’s most respected roast duck kitchens, to see how Peking duck is actually made now.
Some things are still traditional. Others have changed. Air pumps are gone, freezers are in, ovens have evolved, duck breeding has industrialized. The goal for many restaurants now is crispness without greasiness. The 2008 Olympics have sped up the process, but Peking duck has been evolving for decades or longer.
44 Comments
Does less fat or grease translate into less flavors?
9:51 white sugar was probably invented by the Chinese opera master Mei LanFang. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mei_Lanfang
真的超级喜欢这个频道，interview的问题都非常质量，然后subject matter都是交给SME来阐述。production value很好，narration的辞藻一点点的噱头都没有。含金量太高了。
As a Chinese Peaking Duck lover who lived in Beijing for a decade, I learned a lot from this video. I thought Peaking Duck with white sugar is a traditional pair but surprisingly learned it was invented in the 2000’s
Very well done!
喜欢全聚德
Thanks for bringing to light the new advances in prepping the duck. I had no idea.
On a completely separate note, a quick PSA would have been nice to explain that Peking duck is fundamentally different than Cantonese roast duck (this is one of my top pet peeves). I'm not sure how this would have been gracefully slipped into the video, but any steps towards clearing up the confusion would have been wonderful.
Thanks for a great video.
This is peak production. Thanks for your great work.
2:52 'Duck Boss' 😁
I'm gonna try this next time I shoot a Mallard.
This restaurant sucks btw, been there this summer, idk why its rating is so high
I prefer the old prep. The freezer method results in a flavor so subtle, I have to eat the skin with nothing else in order to taste anything. It's not like I'm eating Peking duck every day, some extra fat once in a long while isn't going to kill me.
awesome show, my first time in this channel, subscribed
可以去广东的潮汕地区拍一期牛肉火锅，从屠宰场开始拍
女的解说员为什么不化妆？
PURE ART. FOOD AND CINEMATOGRAPHY.
这么好的内容快发B站抖音啊，会火的
The captions below are so hard to read in front of the white table
There are two schools of Peking roast ducks. Flame roast (Quanjude) and smoldering roast (Bianyifang).
This video is the Quanjude-style flame roast duck. You should make one more episode about the smoldering one, go to Bianyifang to try it.
Jesus , how we process animals is beyond words .How are the slaughter practices ! ? 200 million culled a year . Mercy .
May I know how much this costs in Beijing? I always want to visit China.
see, 0:29, the english says wood right, but the chinese says 果木 which mean wood that come from some kind of fruit tree like apple, date or pear. So while I am impressed with that attention to detail, I wonder how the subtitle works, is it ai translated or do you have an actual chinese editor that actually go do the research
World class dish
I love Peking duck…my hometown cuisine. Growing up eating it at the few traditional restaurants mentioned in the video. It’s almost impossible to find authentic Peking duck outside Beijing. It’s not cost worthy for a restaurant to build a whole kitchen around one dish, unless it is a Peking duck specialty restaurant.
Calling electric oven roasted duck Peking duck is sacrilege.
Peking duck is best duck in the world
your arm on the table holding up your head is like a crazy thing to do. our parents would yell at us at kids if we were ever to have that posture.. you'll never see anyone in China sit with that posture 😂
The only thing that’s evolving is the price. This dish has been around for a long ass time, but now hipsters know how to cook so they want to make it “evolve” so they can charge more…lol what a joke.
Seems like the thing that is missing in the new method is the smokey flavor from the wood that is use in a traditional roasting oven. I'm sure they can make a liquid smoke flavoring that they can inject into an electric oven.
Real Chinese craftsmanship. Thank you for showing.
In Beijing, I had it w/ some kind of sprouts, not sure if they are pea sprouts, buckwheat sprouts, or radish sprouts, but it gave a nice "bite" to the bean paste sauce which was not that sweet to begin w/ (vs US or Canada versions using Hoisin sauce, which I don't like that much)…the pancakes must be a certain type of "wheat" w/ a slight unique flavor to it…Only thing I would personally add or reinvent to the Peking Duck, a spicy bean paste w/ a hint of molasses flavoring plus a sweet wine touch to complement the duck fat baked into the meat itself during roasting…talk about a strong robust flavor…
Amazing production quality 👍
I've known about the freezing technique from researching Da Dong a couple years ago, but you're the first person I know to make a video talking about it.
Great video. Duck always has been and always will be= My favorite meat.
I want a whole duck, two gloves, and just bite into the whole thing
Ordered Peking duck once and was served a bowl of nothing but fat. I simply got up and walked out. That was over 40 years ago and I've never even considered trying it since.
I ate there before covid. One of the best restaurants you can eat at. Just superb
Sounds like a genuine waste to eat duck skin with sugar. What a silly idea.
How is it gory, its just butchering
Amazing, I'd love to try peking duck one day. Have only had french roasted duck. Is the skin crispy or crispy chewy? Does the prep change the internal meat flavor?
Please do one about Cantonese roast duck!
I applaud the entire team who produce Saint Cavish. They honor the culture and people so accurately with respect.
Duck, duck, goose 🪿
我家乡的街边小店里，一只北京烤鸭的价格是4美元，味道也没什么不好，跟老板美言几句还会给你多一些附赠小菜
I put marmalade in my duck.