Beijing's famous cuisines

Beijing cuisine, also known as Jing cuisine, Mandarin cuisine and Peking cuisine and formerly as Beijing cuisine, is the local cuisine of Beijing, the national capital of China

An authentic Beijing duck, for example, can take up to three days to prepare. It is an intensely complex process with many requirements. The duck must be of the white Beijing variety and of superior quality, a "force-fed duck" that weighs about three kilograms. Day one: Slaughter the duck. Pluck, eviscerate, and rinse thoroughly with water. The neck bone must be removed without breaking the skin, then the duck is hung to dry overnight. Day two: Compressed air is injected into the duck between its skin and flesh to make the skin glossy and shiny. Then, once again, it is hung to dry with a glaze added to the skin. Day three: The duck is roasted in a wood-fired brick oven for around 40 minutes. Through using a less-smoky, hardwood fuel like fruit tree branches (pear, peach, or date branches for instance), the duck has a fruity flavor and is red. It is roasted until the skin is crackly crisp and then served immediately.