"peking duck" news and stories

Happy National Peking Duck Day!

In addition to being the focus of the lovable spectacle that is the Christmas dinner scene of "A Christmas Story," Peking duck is a classic Chinese dish created in Beijing some 600 years ago during the Ming dynasty. A precise preparation creates the delicate, crisp crust and takes, at its most basic, these steps: Air is pumped in the vacuum between the duck's external skin and internal meat, the duck is covered in a honey mixture with Chinese spices, then hung to dry until the skin is hard. Once roasted, the skin emerges golden and crunchy.

Though the preparation may appear alarmingly elaborate, trust Rachael Ray to make it more accessible with this approachable recipe, or take the easy route: Leave it to the professionals and order some Peking duck at your favorite local Chinese joint.

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I love my San Francisco neighborhood, the Inner Richmond. I am steps away from Clement Street, the real Chinatown, where Chinese and non-Chinese alike do their shopping away from the hustle and bustle of tourists visiting the other Chinatown across the city. I love that when I am in the mood for Peking duck, there are any number of "BBQ" restaurants with ducks hanging in the window to choose from. It's fun to eat there, but I like to take out, too. Here's how I do it:

At Wing Lee Restaurant on Clement Street, you can "duck in" for roasted duck. They will take a molasses-colored, crispy duck from the window, hack it up with a giant cleaver, and then arrange it carefully in a take-out tray. Then head next door to the Wing Lee Bakery and pick up a bag of doughy, yeasty cocktail-sized buns (or bao) to go with it.  Further west down the street, stop into New May Wah Super Market for hoisin sauce and green onions.

When you get home, arrange the duck and rolls on a platter and set out bowls of hoisin sauce and very thinly-sliced green onions. Split the rolls and make little duck "sandwiches." If you are really a pro, you will remove the skin from the duck and use that to make your sandwich, saving the meat to eat later.