Peking Duck 北京烤鸭

北京烤鸭是具有世界声誉的北京著名菜式。它以色泽红艳，肉质细嫩，味道醇厚，肥而不腻的特色，被誉为“天下美味”而驰名中外。
Peking Dusk is a world-renowned dish from Beijing, featuring shining red skin, crisp and tender meat, rich and satisfying aroma, and oily but not greasy taste.
北京烤鸭所用的鸭子是中国培育的良种肉食鸭，学名叫做北京鸭。据说，北京鸭的饲养大约起源于一千多年前，是因辽金元之历代帝王游猎，偶获此纯白野鸭种，后为游猎而养，一直延续下来，才得此优良纯种，并培育成今天名贵的肉食鸭种。这是用填喂方法育肥的一种白鸭，故名“填鸭”。不仅如此，北京鸭曾在百年以前传至欧美，经繁育一鸣惊人。因而，作为优质品种的北京鸭，成为世界名贵鸭种来源已久。
The dish adopts Pekin duck, a thoroughbred duck used for meat production. It is said that those precious ducks had been bred for hunting purposes from the white mallard serendipitously discovered by emperors in Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties on their hunting trips over 1,000 years ago. The force feeding of the ducks led to an alternate name for the dish, Peking Stuffed Duck. Moreover, Pekin duck was exported to Europe and America a century ago and became an instant hit after breeding. Hence, it has long been established as a precious breed in the world.
明朝初期，老百姓爱吃南京板鸭，皇帝也爱吃，据说明太祖朱元璋就“日食烤鸭一只”。宫廷里的御厨们就想方设法研制鸭馔的新吃法来讨好万岁爷，于是也就研制出了叉烧烤鸭和焖炉烤鸭这两种。北京烤鸭分为两大流派，而北京最著名的烤鸭店也即是两派的代表。叉烧烤鸭以“全聚德”为代表，而焖炉烤鸭则以“便宜坊”最著名。金陵烤鸭是选用肥大的草鸭为原料，净重要求在2.5公斤左右。
In early Ming Dynasty, the Pressed Nanjing Duck found favor with the Emperor as well as the common people. It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of Ming Dynasty, ate one duck every day. The imperial cooks racked their brains to suck up to the emperor and developed two new ways of cooking - basted or baked. The most famous roast duck restaurants in Beijing are the representatives of those techniques: Quanjude is renowned for basted ducks and Bianyifang for baked ducks. By comparison, Jinling Roast Duck is prepared from the fat grass duck with a net weight of approximately 2.5 kg.
相传，随着朱棣篡位迁都北京后，也顺便带走了不少南京宫廷里烤鸭的高手。在明朝嘉靖年间，烤鸭就从宫廷传到了民间，老“便宜坊”烤鸭店就在菜市口米市胡同挂牌开业，这也是北京第一家烤鸭店。而当时的名称则叫“金陵片皮鸭”，就在老“便宜坊”的市幌上还特别标有一行小字：金陵烤鸭。
It is said that many cooks specializing in roasting ducks followed Zhu Di to the new capital of Beijing. During the reign of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty, roast duck was no longer an exclusive dish on the imperial court menu, but had reached countless households. Bianyifang, the first roast duck restaurant in Beijing, was established at Mishi Hutong in Caishikou. However, the dish retained the name “Jinling Duck Skin”, and there was a line on the signboard of Bianyifang which read, “Jinling Roast Duck”.
在1864年，京城名气最大的“全聚德”烤鸭店也挂牌开业，烤鸭技术又发展到了“挂炉”时代。它是用果木明火烤制并具有特殊的清香味道，不仅使烤鸭香飘万里，而且还使得“北京烤鸭”取代了“南京烤鸭”，而“金陵片皮鸭”只能在港澳、深圳、广州等南方几个大城市的菜单上才能见到。
Quanjude Restaurant was established in 1864 and later became the most renowned roast duck restaurant in Beijing. Quanjude developed the hung oven to roast ducks, with an open fire fueled by hardwood from peach or pear trees, thus adding a special aroma to the dish. Peking Duck finally supplied the place of Jinling Duck Skin which is only served nowadays at restaurants of large cities in southern China like Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.