In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the people loved Nanjing salted duck, and so did the emperor. It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was "a roast duck in the solar eclipse". The royal chefs in the court tried their best to develop new ways to eat duck gizzards to please the emperor, so they also developed Nanjing roast duck, which can be divided into barbecued roast duck and braised roast duck.

After Zhu Di, the Ming emperor, moved to Beijing, he also took away many masters of roast duck in Nanjing court. During the Jiajing period, roast duck spread from the palace to the people, and the old "Cheap Square" roast duck restaurant was opened in Mishi Hutong, Caishikou, which was also the first roast duck restaurant in Beijing.

At that time, it was called "Jinling Sliced Duck", and a small print was specially marked on the market of the old "Cheap Square": Jinling Roast Duck. "Quanjude" is the representative of barbecued roast duck, while "Cheap Square" is the most famous for braised roast duck. Jinling roast duck is made of fat grass duck, and its net weight is about 2.5 kg.

in 1864, the most famous "quanjude" roast duck restaurant in Beijing was also put into operation, and the roast duck technology developed into the era of "hanging furnace". It is roasted with open fire of fruit trees and has a special fragrance, which not only makes the roast duck fragrant in Wan Li, but also makes the "Beijing Roast Duck" replace the "Nanjing Roast Duck", and the "Jinling Sliced Duck" can be seen on the menus of several southern cities such as Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

Classification of Roasted Duck:

After the founding of New China, the reputation of Beijing Roasted Duck is increasing day by day, and it is even more famous in the world. It is said that Premier Zhou appreciated and paid close attention to this famous dish before his death, hosted foreign guests and tasted roast duck. In order to meet the needs of social development, the baking operation of duck shops has been modernized and the flavor is more delicious. Quanjude is the most brilliant of the roast duck family, which has established the image ambassador status of the roast duck family in Beijing.

Yang Quanren, the founder of Quanjude, was a small businessman who was engaged in raw chicken and duck business. After accumulating capital, he started Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant, and hired a roast duck chef who used to work in the imperial dining room of the Qing Dynasty to refine the roast duck with the court's "hanging roast duck" technology, which made the "hanging roast duck" flourish among the people.

Quanjude adopts the hanging oven roasting method, and does not open the duck. Just open a small hole in the duck, take out the internal organs, then pour boiling water into the duck's stomach, then tie the small hole and hang it on the fire to roast. This method can not make the duck lose water due to roasting, but also make the duck skin swell without being softened. The roasted duck skin is very thin and brittle, which becomes the most delicious part of roast duck.

The hanging furnace has a furnace hole and no furnace door, and uses jujube, pear and other fruit trees as fuel and open flame. When the fruit wood is fired, it is smokeless, the bottom fire is strong and the burning time is long. After the duck enters the furnace, the position of the duck should be changed regularly with the pole, so that the duck can be heated evenly and roasted all over.

The roasted duck has a plump appearance, a purplish red color, a crisp skin, a fruity fragrance and a more delicious taste. Strictly speaking, only this roasting method is called Beijing roast duck.