I wanted to give you a sneak peak into the infamous Peking Duck as it dawned on me that it would make a wonderful Mother’s Day feast. I had touched upon it briefly in an earlier post mentioning that our chefs take the utmost care to source the best ducks they can find. Chef Chiu recently came upon a top of the line quality duck from France which he admits is more suitable because it is leaner and doesn’t carry the extra layer of fat under the skin.

In Chinese dining, ordering Peking Duck is a grand affair, an occasional dish to relish with friends or family. The sweet mandarin glaze of auburn and mahogany covered around a crispy outer layer just fine and perfect to complement the succulent juicy meat. The plum sauce accompaniment is prepared in house from scratch by our head chef. Along with that, expect to see a steaming basket of handmade pastry pancakes.

The art to eating this beautiful dish is in the sharing and designing your own unique bite. A piece of meat, two fingers full of cucumber and radish julienned matchsticks with a drape of plum sauce make this artistic dining experience accessible to all.

If you are curious to know how long it takes to prepare this dish – a couple of daysThe process although not simple, can be put down to four essential steps:

1. Cleaning the duck thoroughly.

2. Marinading and flavouring the duck with aromatic herbs.

3. Fan drying the skin overnight. This ensures a tenderness under the crispiness.

4. Roasting the duck for a good 45 minutes.

There’s an exciting buzz in the kitchen when there are reservations from customers requesting a Peking Duck dinner, perhaps it’s because the chefs get to exercise their culinary skills to the highest levels. It’s a definite must try at Naturally Chinese so plan a Peking Duck day and we’ll look forward to giving you this experience.