Hung-Oven Roast Duck Technique (Quanjude)

The hung-oven roast-duck technique is bound up with Quanjude, founded in 1864. Derived from palace methods of roasting duck, it was developed in Beijing by houses such as Quanjude into a distinct school built on open-flame roasting.

In the gualu method the duck hangs in an open-mouthed brick oven over a live fruitwood fire of date and pear wood; the cook turns it constantly on a pole for even heat, judging doneness by color and time, until the skin is crisp and amber and the meat tender and juicy, scented with fruitwood smoke.

One of the two great schools of Beijing roast duck, the hung-oven technique is inscribed as national intangible cultural heritage and stands as a defining craft of the city's food culture.

The craft lives on in time-honored duck houses such as Quanjude, where diners can watch the whole process of hung-oven roasting and table-side carving — the technique inseparable from the meal itself.