Looking for Peking Duck (Anchorage, Eagle: how much, restaurant, versus)

[miu]

Originally Posted by Glitch

Peking Duck takes a long time to prepare. Ideally, the seasoned duck should marinate overnight in the refrigerator before it is baked. A good chinese restaurant will require 24 hours advanced notice before preparing Peking Duck.

I love Peking Duck!!

One of my Chinese friends has a husband who used to be a head chef in a Chinese restaurant. I once questioned her as to how I could order Peking Duck at a restaurant without the 24-hour notice. She told me (twenty years ago) that most Chinese restaurants cheat and take an already roasted whole duck (from a Chinatown wholesale purveyor) and stick it in a fryolator to crisp the skin up further, then carve into the appropriate pieces.

Otherwise, my aunt (not Chinese) told me that to make a good crispy skin duck Chinese style is to marinate it for at least a day in dry sherry and to separate the skin from the meat. With the skin not attached to the meat, the fat drains from the bird better during the roasting process.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by miu

I love Peking Duck!!

One of my Chinese friends has a husband who used to be a head chef in a Chinese restaurant. I once questioned her as to how I could order Peking Duck at a restaurant without the 24-hour notice. She told me (twenty years ago) that most Chinese restaurants cheat and take an already roasted whole duck (from a Chinatown wholesale purveyor) and stick it in a fryolator to crisp the skin up further, then carve into the appropriate pieces.

Otherwise, my aunt (not Chinese) told me that to make a good crispy skin duck Chinese style is to marinate it for at least a day in dry sherry and to separate the skin from the meat. With the skin not attached to the meat, the fat drains from the bird better during the roasting process.

Good cooking tip!

I usually just prick the skin in several places with a fork to give the rendered fat a way to drain, but I never thought of separating the skin from the meat. That can easily be done, and I suspect your aunt was right. Thank her for me.

[miu]

So from the cavity area, I work my hands in underneath the skin and gently lift it up. But my aunt also talked about inserting a straw to blow air under the skin to inflate it like a balloon.

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by miu

So from the cavity area, I work my hands in underneath the skin and gently lift it up. But my aunt also talked about inserting a straw to blow air under the skin to inflate it like a balloon.

One of the things I like to do with roast chicken is inject a butter and herb mixture under the skin using a syringe, only in that case I do not want it to drain out. I have deboned many birds in the past, and loosing the skin is much easier. I will have to give it a try.

[AKRaven]

Most Anchorage Chinese restaurants are run by Koreans. Charlie's Bakery (C&Northern Lights) was owned by a couple from Taiwan. Charlie had gone to chef school in Taiwan. But they sold the restaurant to one of the people who worked there.

ChinaTown (Government Hill) was owned by folks from Beijing. Haven't been there for a while, but they had some of the most authentic Chinese food in town. I know there's been a change of ownership, but I think the new owners are also from Mainland China. Don't order from the paper menu - that's American-Chinese food for people from the base. Use the fancier menu. Call ahead and ask about Peking Duck. I've only had it in Beijing.

[roadfamily6now]

I'd love to try some Korean food. Too bad we don't have any Korean restaurants in town.

[molukai]

Off-topic, but why is Peking Duck still referred to as Peking Duck? In China, it is 北京烤鸭 'Beijing kaoya', which is Beijing Roast Duck. So in other words, shouldn't we be calling it Beijing Duck (as Peking is an outdated name for the city in which this style of dish originates)?

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by roadfamily6now

I'd love to try some Korean food. Too bad we don't have any Korean restaurants in town.

You mean like:

Home Town Korean
3020 Minnesota Dr
Anchorage, AK 99503
(907) 277-2211

Johnny Woos Korean Restaurant
12801 Old Glenn Highway
Eagle River, AK 99577
(907) 622-2020

Korean Garden
300 E. Dimond Boulevard
Anchorage, AK 99515
(907) 522-5556

[Glitch]

Originally Posted by molukai

Off-topic, but why is Peking Duck still referred to as Peking Duck? In China, it is 北京烤鸭 'Beijing kaoya', which is Beijing Roast Duck. So in other words, shouldn't we be calling it Beijing Duck (as Peking is an outdated name for the city in which this style of dish originates)?

Because they are the same thing. Peking is the Mandarin romanization spelling of Beijing.

北 = North
京 = Capital

北京 = Beijing, a.k.a. Peking

烤 = Toast, roast, bake, broil, or grill.

鸭 = Duck, or drake

北京烤鸭 therefore means Beijing Roast Duck or Peking Roast Duck. Unless you want to call it "North Capital Baked Drake."

[molukai]

Glitch, your post just reiterated what I said (well except for the incorrect assertion that you made stating that Peking is the Mandarin romanization of Beijing). Romanization of contemporary Chinese language is PinYin, and it is irrelevant when identifying locations. That is to say, "Beijing" in Chinese should also be "Beijing" to foreigners. I would argue that references to Peking in contemporary day is not from Mainland Chinese but by Sino populations outside of the mainland and by foreigners.

My question was why do people refer to Beijing Duck as Peking Duck, when Peking is no longer correct nomenclature for Beijing?