Cook For Family - Leftover Peking duck

It's no secret that I love to eat, and on the blog it appears that I love to eat out more than in. In real life though, I eat at home quite a bit and I do cook, albeit super simple things that can be done in a few minutes - such are the demands of modern life (or that's my excuse...).

When I got an email from Razlan about Daniel's #CookForFamily initiative, I jumped right in. Rather than paraphrase, here's what it's about in Daniel's own words:

The #CookForFamily is a bloggers-for-bloggers initiative. No competition, sponsors, or hidden agenda involved. It is created with a simple objective of getting more bloggers, and hopefully their fans and followers, to start cooking and bonding with their families.

You'll see that most participants are Singaporean food bloggers, but hey, food knows no boundaries, and certainly the internet doesn't.

Peking duck slices

But then came the challenge of what to cook. I was surprised by Daniel's blog post about bloggers telling him that they don't have time to cook or don't know how to. So instead of conjuring up a fancy menu, I thought I'd come clean and just tell you all how lazy I can be, and hopefully communicate that it really isn't hard to cook for your family, even if cooking means getting a little help from leftovers.

Dadong - Duck down, Beijing

Peking duck at Da Dong

According to my dad - back in 2010 or so - when in Beijing, we should skip the "classic" Quan Ju De and go to Dadong instead. That's a rule we (and I, when I've gone to BJ without him) have followed. This time, because I needed a baseline with which to compare Made in China, we found ourselves in Dadong again. Only this time, Dadong wasn't how we remembered it.

Peking Duck, Made in China - Beijing

Carving Peking duck. Argh, gloves.

Not long ago, I wrote that the best Peking duck I've ever had was at Kowloon Tang, in Hong Kong. With that memory fresh in my mind, I set off to Beijing to try the "real" thing. It's my 4th or 5th time in Beijing now, and we've had our favourites (see: my dad's Beijing tips), one of which has been Da Dong. I revisited DD this time as well - more in a future post - but we also went to Made in China, which has always been highly regarded for its pan-Chinese cuisine cooked before your eyes in their glassed-in kitchens, but also for its Peking duck.

Peking Duck, Kowloon Tang

Carving up the duck!

I know, I know, I've said it before, I get a bit annoyed sometimes when people come to Hong Kong asking specifically for Peking duck. It's not because I don't like Peking duck (au contraire) but it's the same kind of feeling I get when people say, "it's my first time in China, and I'm surprised by its efficiency," when their only stop is Hong Kong. Yes, technically, Hong Kong is part of China now, but you have not seen China by coming to Hong Kong. To that end, I feel weird saying that I had the best Peking duck I've ever had in Hong Kong.

It's all in the family - My dad's Beijing tips

While I was stuffing my face and consequently trying to work it off on a bike in Taichung (<< click on Taichung for more on that...), my dad and one of my uncles joined Facebook and both decided to add me. I guess that's what long weekends do to people.

So finally today I checked out my dad's profile page. He actually posted status updates... about food! One of which I shall post here - I'm sure he's happy to share...