Peking Duck in the UK: what it is, how to order it, where to find it
Quick answer
Peking duck is roast duck with lacquered, crackling skin, carved and eaten wrapped in thin pancakes with hoisin sauce, cucumber and spring onion. It is a Beijing imperial dish and a celebration order, often carved at the table. In the UK it is a restaurant centrepiece; the related 'crispy aromatic duck' on takeaway menus is a British adaptation of the same idea.
Calories and nutrition
- Calories
- 550
- Protein
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 45 g
- Fat
- 28 g
- Salt
- 2.4 g
420–720 kcal
Portion: Duck and pancakes, per person about 4 pancakes.
The skin carries the fat; hoisin adds sugar. A shared quarter-duck starter is lighter per person.
Estimates for a typical portion, based on standard UK and USDA food composition data. Actual values depend on the recipe and the restaurant.
What Peking duck is
A duck is air-dried, glazed with maltose and roasted until the skin is thin, crisp and mahogany. The prized part is the skin, sometimes served first with sugar in the Beijing tradition. The duck is carved into slices of skin and meat and eaten wrapped in thin wheat pancakes (bao bing) with a smear of sweet hoisin (or the darker tianmianjiang), batons of cucumber and spring onion. It is a dish of contrasts: crisp skin, soft pancake, sweet sauce, fresh vegetable. In a good restaurant it is carved at the table and often the carcass is made into a soup or a stir-fry as a second course.
Peking duck versus crispy aromatic duck
Crispy aromatic duck, the takeaway staple, is a British invention: the duck is marinated in five-spice, steamed until tender, then deep-fried until crisp and shredded rather than carved. It is eaten the same way, in pancakes with hoisin. It is delicious but it is not Peking duck; the texture is shredded and softer, the flavour spicier. Peking duck proper is roasted whole and carved in slices of crisp skin.
How to judge it
The skin should be genuinely crisp and thin, not fatty or flabby, and the meat moist. Carving at the table and a two- or three-course treatment (skin, pancakes, then a soup or lettuce wrap) is the sign of a restaurant doing it properly, usually ordered ahead for a group. Enough pancakes, and cucumber and spring onion cut fresh, matter.
Where it is done well in the UK
Beijing and northern Chinese restaurants, and the better Cantonese houses, in the Chinatowns and major cities; often needs ordering in advance. Our directory lists areas with the most Chinese restaurants.
How to order it
For real Peking duck, order it at a restaurant that carves at the table, ideally in advance for a group. On a takeaway menu, 'crispy aromatic duck' is the shredded British version, also good. Wrap skin, cucumber and spring onion with a little hoisin; do not overfill the pancake.
Where it's done well
UK councils with the most peking duck specialists, by restaurant name, in our directory.
Restaurants near you
Search by postcode or use your location to find restaurants likely to serve peking duck near you.
Make it at home
Serves 4 · 30 min
Ingredients
- This is a restaurant dish; roasting a proper Peking duck takes a day of drying.
- For crispy aromatic duck at home: 4 duck legs, 2 tbsp five-spice, salt
- Chinese pancakes, hoisin sauce, cucumber and spring onion to serve
Method
- For the home version, rub duck legs with five-spice and salt and steam for 90 minutes until tender.
- Roast or deep-fry until the skin is crisp, then shred the meat.
- Warm the pancakes, and serve the duck with hoisin, cucumber batons and spring onion for everyone to wrap their own.
True Peking duck needs a whole air-dried duck and a special oven; the shredded five-spice version here is the achievable British-style dish.