The amazing Peking duck Chen's Restaurant

The amazing Peking duck Chen's Restaurant

Second course of Peking duck





It is essential, at least once in the life of a gourmand, or just a curious, enjoy a Peking duck prepared according to the tradition. This is one of the great global cuisine and a real curiosity in China itself, as it is in all likelihood, an original recipe Mughal. In Paris, the reference is undoubtedly the Duck "Mr. Chen" in three services, the name of the cook, who died in 2003, who developed the recipe and the execution protocol that his widow, Veronica Chen, scrupulously respects from then. Plucked, eviscerated, carefully shaved, the duck is subjected to a traditional preparation. The detachment of the envelope of the duck - skin - takes place, after slaughter, under the joint action of an air pump with the nozzle is slipped under the skin of waterfowl and an effective massage Canardier. Like a rugby ball, the duck is then placed on a hâtelet, nailed by the nose with a needle holder. Boiled in vinegar water, it is brushed repeatedly with a mixture of honey, soy and rice wine. Suspended in a ventilated area, duck is dried for twenty four hours. Cooking will take place in the order in which a single oven in twenty minutes, give a crispy skin and leathery. At the same time, the kitchen is busy preparing a caramelized sauce of sesame oil, bean paste, soy, sugar and water. It also prepares the thin rice pancakes and spring onions on chisels. Chen at the restaurant is under the watchful eye of Madame Chen - and often with his own hand - cutting the duck comes in the room, on a table. The rice pancake, topped with sauce, garnished with spring onions receives a rectangle of hot and crispy skin, which should - with chopsticks - to roll-shaped pannequet. Honey flavors, textures, shades, ingredients for various temperatures, it's the knowledge of Chinese culinary art in the service of the sublime volatile.

The second course is devoted to tasting the flesh of the duck in three distinct forms or sometimes juxtaposed in the base:

- In Beijing, minced meat, fried in a wok with fresh ginger, herbs, salt and pepper;

- With nuts, served with a light background duck and fresh ginger

- With a background of duck confit aubergines and rice vinegar.

The accompaniment is usually composed of wheat noodles steamed, tips and soy green parts of scallions.

The third service is a broth flavored with duck fat and intended to conclude the meal.

During the ten years at the head of his establishment, the chief Chen formed a strong team and supportive, making him share his knowledge. He put into practice the wise saying of Confucius: "When you plant a seed once, you get a single harvest. When you teach people, you get one hundred. "The kitchen team headed by Veronica Chen today, and its director, Jean Le Gloahec (which was the opening of Maxim's Beijing created by Pierre Cardin in 1982) makes a point of honor to select the products always the same requirement and follow the recipe to the letter of the master Fung-Ching Chen.

Michelin-starred Chinese Premier

In 1999, Michelin had recognized this effort by providing a first star. It was stored at the facility until 2006, after the death of the chief Chen occurred in 2003. And then suddenly disappeared from the restaurant guide.

The previous year, the demolition of the slab in the Beaugrenelle Chen started the restaurant in the sound of shovels, the endless stream of trucks and concrete mixers along fences invasive making access virtually impossible. That's the only reason in our view, the disappearance of this restaurant among the starred restaurants in the capital and its outright abolition, even though the level of the kitchen remained constant. The Michelin Guide, which claims to grant its stars than on the quality of the plate, was taken on a new faith in the trap of the darkness of its criteria. After these "years of concrete", work ceased for a year, the restaurant Chen is again mentioned in the Michelin, but it still has not found its star.