Seeking classic Peking duck at Quanjude

[Photo by Yang Feiyue/China Daily]

He stresses that it's important to air-dry frozen ducks after thawing for 20 hours before roasting to avoid compromising their quality.

"We pour water inside the duck before roasting to make sure the meat retains its fat and moisture," says Wu.

It takes up to 50 minutes for his skilled chefs to finish the roasting process.

Most of the other dishes at the restaurant use duck as an ingredient, including some cold dishes we sampled.

The spicy duck wing shreds won points for its presentation. The brown meat and transparent tendons were interlaced with each other, creating a chewy experience. The dish was slightly spicy with a touch of sweetness. The fragrant salty duck livers were not gamey and had a fine and silky texture. The dark-red spicy duck gizzards boasted a firm outside layer but were soft on the inside.

The other two cold dishes we tried featured pickled cucumbers and a white radish and carrots mix. Both tasted very sweet, with a faint sour tanginess, unlike most of pickles in China. Either makes a nice refresher between duck dishes.

The restaurant has five floors and can accommodate roughly 1,000 guests.

IF YOU GO

Quanjude Hepingmen restaurant

11 am-2 pm; 4:30 pm-9 pm daily; 14 Qianmen Xidajie (near Hepingmen subway station), Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-8319-3101