Peking Duck Lettuce Cups
Crispy duck with hoisin, scallions, and cucumber in butter lettuce
- 1Chinese roast duck(from Asian market, or roast your own)
- 24 leavesbutter lettuce(cup-shaped leaves)
- 0.5 cuphoisin sauce
- 1English cucumber(julienned)
- 6green onions(julienned)
- 1 tbspsesame seeds(for garnish)
- 1If using whole duck, remove skin and crisp in 400°F oven for 10 minutes
- 2Shred duck meat into bite-sized pieces; slice skin into strips
- 3Arrange lettuce cups on serving platter
- 4Place small amount of duck meat and crispy skin in each cup
- 5Drizzle with hoisin sauce
- 6Top with cucumber, green onion, and sesame seeds
True Peking duck requires air-drying for crispy skin—hang overnight in refrigerator. Shortcut: use store-bought roast duck from Chinese BBQ shop. Separate skin and meat, serve both. Hoisin should be room temperature for easy drizzling.
Peking duck is one of China's most celebrated culinary traditions, with a documented history stretching back to the Imperial era. The dish appears in cookbooks from the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368 CE) and became a signature offering of imperial court kitchens in Beijing during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 CE). The classical preparation involves inflating the skin from the body of the duck to separate it from the fat layer, then lacquering the bird with maltose syrup and air-drying it before roasting in a sealed or hanging oven — a process that produces the signature crackled, mahogany-colored skin that is considered the most prized element of the dish. Traditionally served with thin pancakes, hoisin sauce, and julienned cucumber and scallion, Beijing's oldest Peking duck restaurants, including Quanjude (founded 1864) and Bianyifang (founded 1416), have maintained the preparation for centuries. The lettuce cup format adapts the pancake wrap to a lighter, fresher vessel — a presentation common in Cantonese cuisine for san choy bau and popularized across American Chinese restaurants during the 20th century. Serving the rich, crispy duck in a cool lettuce leaf creates a textural contrast that echoes the original pancake wrap while making the dish more approachable as a passed hors d'oeuvre.