Day 18: Peking Duck

As Peking Duck virgins, Alex and I were quite unsure where to go for this lauded national dish of China. An Internet search turned up a place Alex had been once for dim sum, Wong's King. It's primarily a seafood restaurant, but you wouldn't know it on this particular night, as cart after cart of Peking duck rolled out from the kitchen to the crowded dining room. All we knew about Peking duck was that it was duck- famed for crispy, thin skin served with pancakes, hoisin sauce and scallions. I've gotta say, the first permutation was...slightly unsettling.

I mean, it's the WHOLE duck, withered head and all. All I can say is I am glad we were not in charge of carving the duck. A waitress did it, quite skillfully, I must say.

Much better. But she only carved off the top layer of the duck and quickly whisked the emaciated carcass away. Alex and I looked at each other as to say 'here goes nothing,' and dug in. We expected spice, or sweetness, or something. But as we wrapped piece after piece in pancakes and added scallions and sauce, mainly all we tasted was...blah. Don't get me wrong, the skin was fantastically crispy, but the flavor of the meat was musky and, uh, not so amazing. Not gross, but not good, either. We made quite a dent in the top layer and I asked Alex what he thought happened to the rest of the duck. We settled on the idea that they used it for stock and kept eating. I got up to go to the bathroom and when I came back...

Oh. My. Stars. It was the rest of the duck and Alex was laughing. And then so was I. Because even if it was the most amazing thing in the world, how on earth are two people supposed to eat a whole duck??? And so most of the Peking duck is now in our refrigerator, and I am seriously unsure if it will be eaten as leftovers. As bad as I feel about that, I do appreciate this strange experience. Lesson learned: when going for Peking duck, bring people. Bring lots of people.