First Time I Ever…Roasted Peking Duck Edition

It's Monday, and you know what that means, another edition of the first time I ever.  Today's dish…roasted Peking duck.  I'm not going to lie, this is not going to be easy.  I was an extremely young kid when I had Peking duck for the first time.  So I'm going to remember it as much as I could.  I had to be at least 6 or 7, and I was in my parent's restaurant in Blackwood, NJ.  Ku Fu Kitchen I believe it was, anywhoo I remember my father coming back from Chinatown in Philadelphia, and he carried with him these two greasy brown paper bags.  As a little kid looking up from the metal prep table, I saw him pulled out two giant birds, one was a brown smooth roasted chicken, and the other?  The succulent, lacquered dark skin beauty, with the waft of cinnamon, soy, ginger, garlic, and so much other spices in the air.  What was this magical animal that my dad was chopping up, and I'll tell you what it was, it was the magical Peking duck.

I remember how my dad set it up, plate, breast side on one side and the dark meat on the other with the drumstick sticking out.  Since I was the youngest and most spoiled, my dad gave me the best part, the drumstick.  I remember dunking it in the delicious sauce that it came with on the side, and I took my first bite.  It was this savory bite of this delicious meat, not gamy at all, and the skin, oh my god, the skin.  It was this crispy sweet taste and delicious with the savory meat and dripping with grease and salty sauce.  I took that whole thing and made sure I dipped off all that sauce into my rice and gobbled that entire thing down.  I was pretty happy about the experience from what I remember, because every chance I get, I order duck.  Oh, and if you are going to complain to me that that is not peking duck, well fudge off.  I didn't have hoison sauce and I didn't have pancakes.

Well that's how that goes, now i wish I had more Peking duck right now.  Mmmm…tasty.