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Welcome to Grand Prix Gastronomy! In 2024, this series is dedicated to cooking the favorite dishes of every driver on the grid.

Chinese cuisine is believed to be one of the oldest cuisines in the world, with Chinese dishes influencing the development of other East Asian cuisines. That's because China was able to create organized settlements quite early, which meant folks could worry about things like making food taste good rather than simply acquiring it. The sheer size of China, too, contributed to the diversity and tradition associated with many of these dishes.

There are plenty of different regions in China, which means you'll come across plenty of hyperspecific local cuisines: Sichuan, Cantonese, Hunan, and more. You'll also find many Chinese dishes that try to incorporate all five taste profiles — sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty — as a way to call back to the medicinal benefits that ancient Chinese physicians perceived in each flavor profile.

Trying to decide on a national dish for China should be difficult, but many sources point to one specific meal: Peking duck. The dish traces its roots back to the Yuan dynasty in Beijing, though it didn't get its name until the Ming Dynasty. Roast duck was hugely popular all over China, but this specific preparation became a huge hit in imperial courts and among the upper class.

That's because, traditionally, Peking duck is difficult to make. The conventional method is to pump air between the duck's outer skin and is flesh, then hung to dry for a while. Tradition dictates the duck should be dusted with sugar and roasted in a way that's completely smokeless — though obviously that has evolved over time.

Traditionally, Peking duck is also served in three stages. In the first, the crispy skin is dipped in sugar and garlic sauce, then eaten straight. In the second stage, you eat the meat with sweet bean sauce, spring onions, cucumbers, and pancakes (that's what we're doing this week). Finally, you take the leftover fat, bones, and meat, and whip up a tasty broth.

When it came time to select a recipe for Peking duck, I went right to one of my favorite Chinese cooking blogs: Red Spice House. Wei Guo, the founder of the site, has been breaking down traditional Chinese recipes and providing folks with delicious ways to make them at home that vary between hyper-traditional and super simple. I knew I could trust her recipes for Peking duck.

I know that Peking duck sounds intimidating, but all things considered, the process was pretty simple — but my primary note is that you make sure you have somewhere between 24 and 72 hours to really make this dish come to life.

That's because you need to prep your duck, then let it sit for 24 to 48 hours — the longer the better. To prep it, you'll pat your whole duck dry with paper towel, then rub it with salt. Place it on a wire rack overtop of a pan, then let the duck sit on the counter for an hour.

When you've waited an hour, bring some water to a boil, then pour it over the duck skin. I placed my wire rack over a deep roasting tray so that I could easily pour it over the duck and not have to worry about the water spilling onto the counter — but you can also do this in your sink.

Then you'll whip up a basting liquid for the duck, which is made of hot water, vinegar, and maltose (or honey or sugar, depending on what you have on hand). Brush that liquid over your duck, then let it rest in the fridge for an hour. Brush it with that same liquid again, letting it rest for an hour again. Then, brush it a final time, and leave it in the fridge — uncovered, on a wire rack set on top of a tray — for at least 24 hours.

An hour before you roast the duck, pull it out of the fridge to let it come to room temperature, then stuff it with scallions, apples, star anise, cinnamon, and bay leaves. Seal the cavity with toothpicks, then stick the duck in the oven on a high heat for 15 minutes. After that time has passed, remove the duck and cover its wing tips and the ends of its legs in aluminum foil, then pop it back into the oven at a lower temperature for about an hour.

In the meantime, you can prep your veggies (julienne some cucumbers and scallions) and your Peking duck pancakes. Add some hot water to all-purpose flour and mix it together, then knead it into a soft dough. Let it sit for about 30 minutes, then divide the dough into 16 equal pieces. Flatten your dough balls a bit, then brush one side with oil and layer one other flattened dough ball on top. Roll it out, then cook it in a lightly oiled frying pan. Transfer the cooked pancakes to a plate, wait for them to cool ever so slightly, and then pull the pancake halves apart.

When your duck is done cooking, pull it from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes while you make your sauce out of sweet bean paste, sugar, and duck fat. Combine your ingredients and heat them to boiling on the stove, then remove to a serving bowl.

Then, slice up your duck, plate it, and serve with your pancakes, veggies, sauce, and a grenache wine!

Because Chinese flavor profiles are so complex, I was a little stumped on what wine to pair with this dish! Peking duck is rich, spicy, sweet, salty, and bitter all at once. An easy choice for the wine would be something like Pinot Noir, while a white wine can be great if the duck ends up sweet. But if you're going authentic with the duck preparation, you want a nice red wine with fruity, jammy flavors, but one that's not too tannic. So, I opted for grenache.

Grenache grapes are some of the oldest in the world, and it's a really versatile drink that goes well with fatty, slow-cooked meats and complex spices. Because Peking duck is kind of all across the board in terms of flavor, you want something that can stand up to a dish that teases your entire palate all at once. You'll get that in grenache.

Since it can be a little overpowering on its own, grenache is usually blended with other grapes. I opted for a Chateau Saint Jean Plan De Dieu, which is 80% grenache blended with 15% syrah and 5% carignan. It's a lovely medium-bodied wine that's reminiscent of freshly picked black raspberries and plums, and it has a really great mouthfeel that isn't too overpowering.

I have something of a complex relationship with duck. I've had it several times, and sometimes it's great, while other times I just don't dig it. I'm really happy with how this Peking duck turned out — it was delicious. The meat was tender while the skin had crisped up nicely. Honestly, my only faux pas was the pancakes; somehow, I messed up the rolling process, so I wasn't able to separate my dough halves after they'd cooked. It made for a real thick pancake as opposed to a tasty thin and pliable one — but that's not the end of the world!

Honestly, the thing I like the least about this dish was having to carve up the duck, but that is firmly a Me Problem, since I have very little experience carving up bone-in meat. For that reason alone, I don't think I'd make a whole Peking duck again, but it is absolutely something I'd order at restaurants, or make at home with just a duck breast.

It's kind of hard to describe the flavor of Peking duck unless you've had it. Duck doesn't taste like anything but duck; it's a hearty, somewhat greasy meat. Combined with the pancake, sauce, and veggies, you also hit all of the five Chinese cuisine flavor profiles. The bean sauce is sweet, sour, and a little bitter all at once, while you get sweet and salty flavors from the meat and some spice from the scallions. If you're not used to all those flavors at once, it can be a little jarring — but it's seriously delicious. I cannot recommend Peking duck enough!

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