Party with a Peking Duck

When I visited Hong Kong a few years ago, a friend of mine who lives there invited me for dinner. He kept telling me about how he loved the peking duck at this restaurant, which turned out to be their specialty.

The restaurant was fully packed when we arrived. The floor manager led us to our reserved table, then a  waitress immediately served us with Chinese tea. For me, a cold beer would compliment the humidity outside. I was so happy to see Foster's beer, visible in their see-through beer fridge.

While I was gulping and appreciating the yeasty taste of my beer, I've noticed my friend  was placing the orders without looking at the menu to the waitress. Apparently for regular patrons of the restaurant, they just order what they want to munch and the chef will be happy to cook it for them. Now that's really handy.

Just after I finished my beer, the first dish arrived. One big plate came with square cut peking duck skin(crispy), underneath were prawn crackers. Next to it was the sauce, hoisin sauce, and a  plate of evenly cut cucumber and spring onion sticks. Another plate was the Chinese pancakes.

My friend showed me the step by step, on how to tackle our first dish of peking duck. It looked easy for me being used of preparing Japanese california rolls. Almost the same principle I guessed.

The second course of the peking duck experience, was the duck's meat cooked with soft noodles, chow mein, in a light sauce. I must admit it was the most exquisite peking duck that I have eaten.

So here's what to do, place one of the wrappers on a plate, plop the skin together with cucumber and spring onion and smear on some sauce. Roll the whole thing and enjoy. Easy!

Peking duck is an interesting eating experience. I have tried few times serving it at home, to surprise my guests. As much as I like the intricate preparation time and serving dishes at my dinner parties, I have come to realise that sometimes, I like short cuts. This way I can spend more time with my guests, and less in the kitchen.

In words plain and simple, here are some short cut suggestions on what you need for serving a peking duck. (Serves 4)

• 1 x whole peking duck from Chinatown barbecue shops in your local area, but if there is no Chinatown, I selected this link for preparing a peking duck. You can also politely ask the shop owner/chef to dissect the duck so you can get them in the right sizes. 
• 1 x packet of Chinese pancakes, available from the Chinese bbq shops or tortilla from a deli shops
• Hoisin sauce/dark sauce, available from the Chinese bbq shops or from an Asian grocery store.
• Lebanese cucumber, spring onions(stalk) , both cut in the same length.

That simple, try it and have a lovely Peking duck party.