peking duck without spices or marinade

[looking4restaurant]

I loved Chef Chang's Peking duck. It had no (at least to my tastebuds) spices or other flavorants like sugar. Everywhere I've tried subsequently, the duck has some kind of spice or sweetener and unfortunately, I dislike these flavors. Are there any places that serve duck without them that you could recommend? Out of curiosity, what are/is the spice that's being used? Thank you in advance.

[lipoff]

I'm a little confused here. Peking Duck, by definition, is marinated in spices and sugar. Where have you tried the Peking Duck here and haven't enjoyed it? Real Peking Duck usually needs to be ordered a day or two in advance. Places that don't require ordering in advance either serve so many Peking Ducks that they can prepare them in advance, or they are not actually serving Peking Duck, but a simpler roast duck with the traditional accompaniments of Peking Duck, or they are reheating previously prepared duck. The New King Fung Garden on Route 9 does a very fine Peking Duck with advance notice, just like the original King Fung Garden in Chinatown did. (I believe the current Chinatown location is under new owners, not sure whether they do this and do it well). Fuloon does many different duck preps, some of which you might also enjoy, but can order Peking Duck 24-hours in advance. Fuloon also does a Beijing homestyle roast duck that also needs to be ordered in advance.

I doubt that there is any restaurant in Boston that goes through enough ducks to do Peking Duck every night without advance notice. Possibly East Ocean City or Golden Temple do, although I wouldn't vouch for their quality. I think Chef Chang's probably did, back in the day. Bottom line --- if you didn't order your duck in advance, you probably didn't actually get Peking Duck.

Many Cantonese restaurants in the area, such as Kantin, Vinh Sun, and Hong Kong Eatery, offer a Cantonese style roast duck. Perhaps that is to your liking. It is very tasty, but different than Peking Duck.

xiang su ya is a Sichuan dish, but a variant on it became common in England just as a variant on traditional sweet and sour pork became popular in the US. In England it is usually served shredded and with the pancake, scallions, cucumbers and hoisin sauce found with Peking Duck, which can be tasty, but is nothing like xiang su ya. In Boston, you can find xiang su ya (usually crisped with shredded, fried taro root) at Joyful Garden, New Moon Villa, Great Taste Bakery and probably a number of other places.

[hyde]

king fung II on rt 9, near brookline high, also do fabulous peking ravioli and scallion pancake. their hand with noodle dishes is also quite good. tell doris you want the dishes like when they were in chinatown.

[galangatron]

east ocean city on beach street in chinatown has peking duck on their specials menu. no advanced notice required

[galangatron]

love the crispy duck with taro at great taste in chinatown. the crispy fried skin goes so well with the sweet fluffy mashed taro root

[opinionatedchef]

o.k. That's it,gg, you finally got me to go to Great Taste.

[CookieLee]

I totally agree. I think what you're tasting is tea smoked. I too sorely miss Chef Chang's Peking duck. We haven't found anything like it yet. Sad.

[Taralli]

Not Peking Duck, but you should check out the roast ducks at Vinh Sun on Beach St. in Chinatown.

[barleywino]

try the tableside-carved whole roast duck at Salts

[cambridgedoctpr]

to my knowledge to get the skin right; they have to use a marinade. so what you want is duck but not peking duck.

[looking4restaurant]

Possibly true. Do you have any pointers/advice for locating a Chinese restaurant with plain duck -- crispy skin, pancakes, scallions? I've tried contacting several restaurants but due to language limitations have not been able to convey what I was seeking. By the way, when I was in Beijing last year, I went to a place that supposedly had the best Peking duck around. I realize it's unlikely that any one place is the best in a city the size of Beijing, but they had the best duck I've ever had. The skin was perfectly crispy and unflavored with any spices. They may have basted or marinated but they did it without spices. Thank you for your help.

[keith]

You likely ate at Quanjude in Beijing, a chain which is publicized as having the best Peking Duck in the world (it is fantastic, but I agree it's hard to pick one absolute "best"). Part of the key to Peking Duck is brushing it with a molasses-like sauce (maltose syrup) prior to air drying to get that ultra crispy laquered finish to the skin. This does add a certain unavoidable sweetness to the duck which is actually one of the things many people love about the dish.

Sounds like what you're looking for is more like "crispy aromatic duck," which is a roasted duck that is then deep fried to produce an ultra crispy skin, shredded and eaten with pancakes, scallions and cucumbers. While this dish is on just about every chinese menu in London, it is extremely difficult to find in the US, and I haven't encountered a version in Boston. If anyone has however, I'd love to know, and I think it'd be exactly what the OP is looking for.

[cambridgedoctpr]

as already mentioned; you might like tea smoked duck; there are many good version including the one at Mulan, Thailand Cafe; there are lots of other duck dishes in chinese restaurants; you could head off to the dumpling house, sichuan gourmet, et al, and see what you like.

[opinionatedchef]

how i love tea smoked duck, and mulan's is my very fav (so much better than Fulloon's, as exc as fulloon's many dishes are) though Mulan doesn't call it 'tea smoked', just 'smoked'. But, looking4, tea smoked duck does not come with pancakes and hoisin sauce and scallions, just fyi.

[lipoff]

I agree about Mulan vs. Fuloon's Tea Smoked Duck. Tea Smoked Duck is traditionally served with plain steamed buns. But, it might actually be the opposite of what looking4 is looking for, since it is very strongly spiced and flavored!

[opinionatedchef]

really sam? i had no idea about the buns w/ tea smoked duck. never been served it that way.

[StriperGuy]

I haven't tried Mulan's, but Shangrila does a great version