Peking duck is a famous dish in Beijing with a world reputation, the material is high-quality meat duck Peking duck, the fruit charcoal grilled, the color is ruddy, the meat is fat but not greasy. Peking duck is divided into two major genres: "hanging oven roast duck" and "braised oven roast duck", with Quanjude's hanging oven roast duck and cheap fang's braised oven roast duck being the most famous.
In the Beijing roast duck rivers and lakes, the pattern of Quanjude and cheap shops has lasted for decades. It wasn't until the advent of Da Dong Roast Duck that this balance was broken. Da Dong is a representative of the new roast duck, with 13 branches in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Xiao Da Dong and Da Dong duck brands. Roast duck "crispy but not greasy" is not only a winning dish for Da Dong, but also the first movement of Da Dong's catering kingdom. The first "Da Dong" is famous for its crispy and non-greasy roast duck.
Da Dong's boss is called Dong Zhenxiang, and his father once cooked for Liu Shaoqi. Da Dong not only followed his chef father since he was a child, but also spent seven years studying from junior college to MBA. The Beijing restaurant industry says that Da Dong is a genius, not only because his roast duck restaurant is very popular, but also because he has a high reputation and status in the culinary industry, and because he is also the only chef and restaurant manager in the Chinese restaurant circle to obtain an MBA.
In 2002, the state-owned restructuring gave Da Dong a good opportunity. At that time, the Tuanjiehu branch of the state-owned Beijing Roast Duck Restaurant where Da Dong was located wanted to carry out state-run restructuring and rent it to individuals, and Da Dong scraped together to win the store. At this time, the "crispy and not greasy" roast duck has been developed, and it has a good reputation in the circle, the roast duck skin is crispy and crispy, melts in the mouth and chews without residue, and the taste and aroma are excellent; At a time when everyone is pursuing duck meat, Da Dongxuan's duck meat is low in oil and fat, and the fruit wood barbecue flavor is fragrant, which is crispy and more advanced than the traditional roast duck skin, reaching the realm of crispy and fluffy, and becoming a new standard for roast duck quality.
Accolades followed. During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Da Dong was designated by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee as the "Special Reception Restaurant for the Olympic Games", and was highly praised by the President of the International Olympic Organizing Committee Rogge, Samaranch and heads of state. During the APEC summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in 2014, heads of state visited Dadong to taste roast duck. Since then, Da Dong has become internationally famous, and the roast duck restaurant is in full swing. After the promulgation of the "National Eight Articles", many high-end catering enterprises are facing a crisis, sales have declined rapidly, and many chain stores of well-known brands have closed one after another.
The most special thing about Da Dong roast duck is the taste of duck skin. It is not "crispy and crispy" as advocated by traditional roast duck, but "crispy but not greasy". There are eight kinds of dipping sauces, using cubes of white sugar with low sweetness, and placing them on the tip of the tongue after meeting the duck skin, which can really melt in the mouth. Da Dong's duck is roasted for a long time, the duck skin is crispy and dry, poke the surface of a piece of duck skin with chopsticks, the duck skin will crack, and it will quickly dissolve between the lips and teeth in the mouth, without any residue remaining. The duck meat has a rich taste, and it is not as rich as the juice of other roast ducks, and the fat content of Da Dong's roast duck is lower, so there will not be so much guilt after eating.
As a rising star, Da Dong has innovated in the selection of ducks, duck billet processing and slice methods. Compared with the conventional four-series cramming duck of about 5 catties, the little ducklings created by Da Dong are more distinctive, and they are the only one in Beijing. Ordinary stuffed ducks only start to eat coarse grains after 22 days, while Dadong's young ducklings only eat corn tortillas and bean cakes from birth, each weighing about 2 catties and 6 taels, with firmer skin and more tender meat. The duckling can already be made by machines, and the ducklings are small and thin-skinned, and need to be manually operated by experienced masters. In the production process of duck blanks, they are usually frozen for 12 to 24 hours for acid removal, and the large and small ducks of the Da Dong family have to be frozen for 5-7 days before they can be thawed, which is probably one of the "secrets" of crispy and not greasy.
"Crispy but not greasy" is a new type of roast duck method that has been gradually formed after thousands of duck tests, with strict standards and a daily elimination rate of about 10%. The strip method is used when slicing duck, which can increase the speed and make the duck meat not easy to cool. The duck will be sliced in 7 or 8 minutes and packed into two plates; The ducklings are sliced in 5 or 6 minutes and put on a plate. In addition, the duck head will be divided into two and placed in a small dish along with the meat strips on the two small pieces of duck tail to indicate that there is a head and a tail. Compared with the big duck can not be eaten, half of the food can not be eaten, the little duckling is more suitable for two people to eat, the chest of the duckling is whiter and more tender, although the amount of meat is less than the big duck, but the skin is thicker, and the taste is better.
The ingredients for the roast duck in the Dadong restaurant are richer than those in Quanjude, and it is said that the roast duck here "has eight seasonings and eight ways to eat". In addition to the sweet noodle sauce, green onion white section and cucumber commonly used in Quanjude, in order to adapt to the eating habits of different guests, sugar, ginger, garlic, radish, mustard and other ingredients are also added. The sweet noodle sauce is prepared and very viscous. One of the most special ingredients is cantaloupe strips and osmanthus candy, with the taste of amazing eating, duck skin dipped in osmanthus sugar, the entrance can also taste the fragrance of osmanthus, the taste is quite elegant.
The spring cake with rolled duck has a soft taste and is not easy to tear, and the taste is warm; In addition to being eaten with a spring cake crust, roast duck can also be eaten with hollow baked cakes. The crispiness of the baked cakes made by Da Dong is not bad, you can stuff the duck meat and duck skin into it and eat it together, and the taste of charred on the outside and tender on the inside will come out. In terms of the handling of duck shelves, Da Dong is more rigid, and can only roll soup or take it away. The taste of duck soup is still a little worse than that of roast duck, and the duck smell is heavier. The amount on one go is not much, and you can add it for free when you run out. Each table has a booklet that teaches guests how to eat roast duck, and the waiter will explain it one by one.
Da Dong's dishes not only feed the tongue, but also feed the eyes. "Da Dong Chinese Artistic Conception Cuisine" is different from the traditional Chinese cuisine of regional cuisine, Da Dong integrates the ingredients, techniques and tastes of various Chinese cuisines in line with the consumption concept of the times, pays attention to the seasonal characteristics of the ingredients, and gathers them into a large Chinese cuisine. Da Dong has words for each dish, the menu is half a meter long, and the weight of the weighing is estimated to exceed a pair of small dumbbells, and it still takes a little effort to look at it in the hand, so basically the guests are placed on the table to watch.
In addition to roast duck, Da Dong's Dong-style roasted sea cucumber, salted duck liver, mustard duck paw, and fire-roasted duck heart are all worth tasting. The heart of the roasted duck is crispy and tender; The mustard duck paw has a light taste and does not choke the nose; The duck liver is very tender, melts in the mouth, the seasoning is neither salty nor light, and the presentation is shaped like a flower blooming.
Da Dong's service is basically proper and neat, but the waiter basically has no smile, which makes people feel very distanced. Da Dong is very suitable for business banquets, and the decoration style of each branch is different, each with its own characteristics. Tuanjiehu store is the earliest store established by Da Dong, on the gatehouse of the carved beams and painted buildings, the quaint wooden plaque is branded with gilded characters, and the walls, palace lamps, and well algae are full of strong Beijing flavor. The environment of the Gongti shop is vast, covering an area of 8,000 square meters, and many 1:1 scale horses are leisurely scattered on the grass, making people feel like they are in the depths of the grassland; Passing through a wide meadow, this is the garden-like delicate Da Dong roast duck. The Nanxincang store is located in the scenic spot, the store site faces the road, but the door is open on the back, and you have to go through the main road of Nanxincang to find the door, which has a winding path. The level of consumption at each store varies slightly depending on the location and target group. Dadong's toilet adopts a complete set of TOTO toilets, automatic cleaning and flushing, equipped with Dyson hand dryers, etc., so that eating roast duck has become advanced.
Da Dong's dishes take the exquisite route, the price of a "crispy and not greasy" roast duck is 268 yuan, the young duckling is 288 yuan, and the seasoning is 12 yuan. Just looking at the price of roast duck, in fact, Da Dong is not expensive; But the other dishes are still good and not cheap. Fruit will be given before the meal, but the portion is smaller. From the perspective of the overall environment, consumption in Dadong is also to pay for culture and atmosphere. Beijing's food critics have mixed reviews of Da Dong, with some accusing him of being in vain, but the difference in taste does not replace the standard of cuisine, and Da Dong's crispy roast duck is enough to become the first in Beijing. Customers who like the crispy and fatty roast duck may find the crispy roast duck too light. In Beijing, the per capita consumption of each Dadong is different, which is affected by factors such as location and environment, and it is also the differentiated marketing strategy of Dadong.
It is worth mentioning that Da Dong (ICC) and Da Dong Sea Cucumber Store (Transoceanic Plaza) in Shanghai were recommended by Michelin in 2017, although Michelin's recommendation is only for a single store, but it is also the best proof of Da Dong's products. If you feel that Da Dong's consumption is too expensive, you can try the more people-friendly sub-brand "Xiao Da Dong", the environment is younger, the menu is also a lot more streamlined, and you can taste crispy roast duck for about 140 yuan per person. Xiao Da Dong in Fangcaodi also has crispy and sweet roast duck, but the gap between the product and Da Dong is not small, and there are other better choices at the same price, so I will not recommend it here.
