Beijing Roast Duck
The Beijing roast duck is a dish well-known among gastronomes the world over.
China is one of the first countries to domesticate ducks for the table. Cooking methods include steaming, boiling, stewing,
roasting, frying and so on. Historical records show that Beijing Roast Duck started some 300 years ago, and roasting duck
first began in Nanjing, then known as Jinling capital city of Jiangsu Province. At that time, Jinling was the capital of the early
Ming Dynasty. When the capital moved to Beijing, the dish was also brought to Beijing as a delicacy on the imperial menu. In
about 1630, a eunuch wrote a book on the imperial diet and referred to roast goose, pork, chicken and duck as the most
favoured courses in the palace.
Nowadays, the two most famous Restaurants that serve Beijing Roast Duck are Bianyifang Roast Duck Restaurant and Quanjude Roast Duck
Restaurant, both of which have a history of over one hundred years. They represent two different schools of roasting duck. Bianyifang, founded in
1855, makes use of a close oven and straw as the fuel, which won't make flames go directly onto the duck. Before being put into the oven, a duck
is filled with specially-made soup to make it possible to roast the duck outside and boil it inside at the same time. Quanjude, a better known one,
founded in 1864, uses an oven without a door. After a kind of dressing being spread all over a duck, it will be hooked up in the oven over the flame
coming directly from the burning of the fruit-tree wood and it will be done in forty minutes.
The ducks (ideally, the duck must be the white Beijing variety) are raised for the sole purpose of making the food. Force-fed, they are kept in cages
which restrain them from moving about, so as to fatten them up and make the meat comparably tender. And it should be 65 days old. Beijing
Roast Duck is processed in several steps: first the ducks are rubbed with spices, salt and sugar, and then kept hung in the air for some time.
Then the ducks are roasted in an oven, or hung over the fire till they become brown with rich grease perspiring outside and have a nice odor.
The duck is served in slices. First, the chef will show you the whole duck. Then, he will slice it into between 100 and 120 slices in four or five
minutes, each slice with an equal portion of both skin and meat. Usually the duck is served together with special pancakes, hollowed sesame
bun, green onions and sweet sauce. Dinners can wrap duck slices, onion, and sauce in a pancake or a sesame bun with their bare hands.
Sometimes people would like to put in mashed garlic and cucumber or carrot strips as well.
The simple eating procedure is as follows: Pick up a pancake in one hand and, using a section of raw scallion as a brush, paint a few splashes of
bean sauce on the pancake. Next, place the scallion in the center of the pancake, and with your chopsticks add a few pieces of duck, finally rolling
it up for convenience's sale. Here then is one of the most unforgettable mouthfuls in all of Chinese cooking.
A Beijing duck dinner is more than just a meal. It's a ritual. Beginning with the cold appetizers, using liver, wing, stomach, web and eggs, and
moving on through the four-part duck soup to the hot dishes-fried duck's heart in salt and pepper, tongue, kidneys --- the whole roast duck is
carried to the table for all to see before the meat is sliced and served.

Hot-pot
Nothing can be more desirable and pleasant than sitting down with family and friends to a hot-pot on a cold winter day.
Eating hot-pot has become more than a mere culinary experience for Chinese; it has become a way of life. The way we say
"eating hot-pot" may sometimes be a little misleading. Actually, a hot pot is not a kind of food, but a charcoal stove with a
central chimney and an outer riny filled with hot water for boiling the food. Now an electric stove will also do!
Originally among Chinese northern nomadic tribes, the Mongolian version of the steaming feast has been called the father
of all hot-pots in China. The hot-pot boasts a history of more than 1,000 years and built its popularity during the Tang
Dynasty (618-907). In the following dynasties, imperial chefs adopted the culinary style in the mid-17th century, with mutton hot pot becoming a
winter favorite of the Supreme Qing rulers like Emperor Qianlong and Emperor Jiaqing and the Qing Royal family.
Chinese people, but also many foreigners have not only enjoyed hot-pots. The Mongolia hot-pot at Beijing's Donglaishun (Success comes from
the East) Restaurant has been savoured by leading statesmen of many countries.
1. Mongolian-style (Mutton hot-pot)
The main ingredient of the modern Mandarin version of Mongolian-style hot-pot is prime mutton taken from tiny sheep raised in inner Mongolia.
Chefs cut the iced mutton into paper---thin slices and prepare a source containing ingredients like sesame butter, soy sauce, chili oil, chopped
chives, glutinous rice wine, shrimp sauce, vinegar and Chinese parsley. The traditional hot-pot meal is not considered complete without bean
curd, sesame pancakes and Chinese cabbages.
The best Mandarin hot-pot restaurant in Beijing is Donglaishun, on Wangfujing, the Fifth Avenue in Beijing. The mutton slices here are finer and
thinner than anywhere else. The bubbling stock, into which the mutton is dipped, is favored with mushrooms and dried shrimps to create the
traditional Mandarin taste.
2. Sichuan-style
Unlike the royal hot pot favored by the Mandarin aristocrats, the Sichun-style version has always been a food of the common folks. The Sichuan hot
pot, like the rest of that humid and populous province's cuisine, tastes very spicy. The broth is flavored with chili peppers and other pungent herbs
and spices. The main ingredients include hot pepper, Chinese crystal sugar and wine. Slices of kidney, chicken breast, beef tripe, goose
intestines, spring onion, soya bean sprouts, mushrooms eel, duck and sea cucumber form the meat content of the dish.
And for those who like to cool their palate after the chili shock, many Sichuan restaurant now serve a hot pot that is divided into two sections-one
containing a spicy broth, the other a milder, white stock.
3. Cantonese-style
The southern style is sweeter and features the seafood ingredients that have become popular in most Cantonese eateries. Fresh shrimps,
scallops, crab meat, white eels and scuttle fish form the staples of this hot pot style. They are served with a sweetish white sauce.

Chinese Dumpling

Jiaozi (Chinese Dumpling) is a traditional Chinese Food, which is essential during holidays in Northern China. Chinese
dumpling is one of the most widely loved foods in China. This is due to many reasons. Here is a list of them.
1. New Year's Food
Chinese dumpling is one of the most important foods in the Chinese New Year. Since the shape of Chinese dumplings is
similar to ancient Chinese gold or silver ingots, they symbolize wealth. Traditionally, the members of a family get together to
make dumplings during the New Year Eve. They may hide a coin in one of the dumplings. The person who finds the coin will
likely have good fortune ill the New Year. Chinese dumpling is also popular in other Chinese holidays and festivals, so it is part of the Chinese
culture or tradition.
2. Delicacy
Chinese dumpling is a delicious food. You can make a variety of Chinese dumplings using different fillings based on your taste and how various
ingredients you mix together.
3. One For All
Usually when you have Chinese dumpling for dinner, you will not have to cook anything else except for some big occasions. The dumpling itself is
good enough to make an entire dinner. This is one of the advantages of Chinese dumpling over other foods, though it may take longer to make
them.
4. Family Link
Making dumplings is really a team work. Usually all family members will join the work. I started to make dumplings, when I was a kid in my family,
so most Chinese like me know how to make dumplings. I am very good at making dumplings, particularly making skins, which is the hardest part
of making the dumplings.
5. Sending Off Friends
Chinese dumpling is often the food for sending off friends or family members I guess this is another tradition

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