Beijing Roast Duck

Today, I want to indroduce a famous Chinese dish for you-Beijing Roast duck!

Beijing Roast duck is thought to be one of the most delicious dishes all over the world; most visitors coming to Beijing will never forget to have a try. Eating Peking duck is seen to be one of the two things you are absolutely supposed to do while in Beijing.

 

How to make it?
Beijing duck Ingredients:1. One 5 to 6 pound duck How to make it?
2. 8 cups water
3. 1 slice ginger
4. 1 scallion, cut into halves
5. 3 tablespoons honey
6. 1 tablespoon white vinegar
7. 1 tablespoon sherry
8. 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
9. Scallions for garnish
Directions:
1. Clean duck. Wipe dry and tie string around neck.
2.Hang duck in cool, windy place 4 hours.
3. Fill large wok with water. Bring to boil. Add ginger, scallion, honey, vinegar, and sherry. Bring to boil. Pour in dissolved cornstarch. Stir constantly.
4. Place duck in large strainer above larger bowl. Scoop boiling mixture all over duck for about 10 minutes.
5. Hang duck again in cool, windy place for 6 hours until thoroughly dry.
6. Place duck breast side up on a greased rack in oven preheated to 350 degrees. Set a pan filled with 2 inches of water in bottom of oven. (This is for drippings). Roast 30 minutes.
7. Turn duck and roast 30 minutes more.
8. Turn breast side up again. Roast 10 minutes more.
9. Use sharp knife to cut off crispy skin. Serve meat and skin immediately on a prewarmed dish.
p.s The duck is eaten hot with hoisin sauce rolled in Mandarin Crepes. Garnish with scallion flowerets.
(This recipe is from Madame Wong's Long-life Chinese Cookbook, reprinted courtesy of Sylvia Schulman)


If you have chance to travel to Beijing, you must not miss Beijing roast duck!

It is really great! I promise!

Glutinous rice balls

February 10, 2013 is Chinese New Year. There are different traditional customs in different parts of China, but the whole family having a family reunion dinner together in the New Year Eve is indispensable. Today I will teach you a dish which in the family reunion dinner is indispensable in my hometown - Wuhan, named Glutinous Rice Balls.

 Glutinous Rice Balls(I cooked this in the New Year Eve, it really great!)

 

Now lets begin!

Meterials: Pork, Tofu, Celery, Coriander and Glutinous rice.

Seasonings:

Chincken Flavor Bouillon

 

Soy Sauce

Sesame Oil

Cooking Wine

Salt

 

 

Step 1. Ahead of time to prepare wash glutinous rice and put it on the water to soak at least a day. (So, if you want to cook this dish on Sunday afternoon, you need do this step on Saturday afternoon.)

Step 2. Mince and mix the pork, tofu, celery and coriander together.

Step 3. Put the mixture into a large container, put the right amount of salt, cooking wine, sesame oil, soy sauce, and checken flavor bouillon, stir well.

Step 4. Balling up the mixture to make balls, and then in the outside of the balls wrapped glutinous rice.

Step 5. Put the glutinous rice balls in the pot and steam for 30 minutes.



You learn it?

Chinese food: a brief history

Chinese society greatly valued gastronomy and a willingness to eat virtually anything edible, plant or animal. The first act of many emperors was to appoint a head chef to his court, and competition between cooks could be fierce.

During the early part of recorded Chinese history in the Shang Dynasty and Chou Dynasty, pork, beef, and mutton were eaten and various wild game hunted. Plants such as thistle, royal fern, and smartweed were collected wild. Meat was preserved with salt, vinegar curing, and fermenting. Flavor of meat dishes was enhanced by cooking it in the fat of a different animal.

 

During the Han Dynasty, Chinese society grew more sophisticated and so did the cuisine, the hallmark of a stable and affluent society. By the time of Confucius, gastronomy was becoming a high art. The great sage wrote of one such picky eater:

 

"For him, the rice could never be white enough. When it was not cooked right, he would not eat. When it was out of season, he would not eat. When the meat was not cut properly, he would not eat. When the food was not prepared with the right sauce, he would not eat."

 

By the 2nd century AD, writers frequently complained of lazy aristocrats who did nothing but sit around all day eating smoked meats and roasts. Starting in the Sung Dynasty, Chinese cooking began to take a new direction that would reach its zenith during the Qing Dynasty, which brought about simple, highly elegant cuisine that was done with the primary object of extracting the maximum flavor of each ingredient.

                                                                                      

                                                                                                                                —— from Wikipedia

 

 

This video talk about Chinese food history.



 

 

 

 

 

Welcome

Hi! I name is Yujie Zai. Welcome to my blog!

 

Because I went to study in the U.S., the American food makes my homesick sharply. Perhaps this is common feeling of  mojority of Chinese students who study on abroad. So, I create this blog to show people what is real Chinese food, meanwhile, I can also enhance my cooking skill, cooking by myself!

 

I will write some Chinese food history, tell you what is different in different regional cuisines, and how to cook Chinese cuisines.

 

Hope you can enjoy me, enjoy chinese food!