P
Chinese · Beijing
Beijing Duck — Third Service (Duck Soup and Congee)
Authentic Peking duck (Beijing kao ya) is traditionally served across three services. The first service is crispy skin. The second service is sliced duck flesh with pancakes. The third and final service utilises the duck carcass and remaining trim: the bones are cracked and simmered immediately to produce a milky-white duck broth, served with glass noodles or as a light congee. The full three-service ceremony is rare outside specialist restaurants.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
1
Peking duck carcass
bones cracked to expose marrow
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1.5 litres
water
cold, to cover carcass
Your own market
30 g
80 g
glass noodles (fen si)
dry weight; to rehydrate in bowl from broth, not pre-cooked
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Or, for congee
120 g
white rice
added directly to broth and cooked briefly
Your own market
To season
1 tsp
white pepper
ground; added at the bowl
Your own market
1 tsp
sesame oil
added at the bowl
Your own market
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II
The Method
1
While the second service (sliced duck with pancakes) is still being consumed, crack the duck carcass — joints, spine, and long bones — to expose the marrow throughout. This step must be thorough: bones left intact will yield weak, clear broth rather than the milky result the ceremony demands.
2
Place the cracked carcass in a pot with the cold water and sliced ginger. Bring to a vigorous simmer over high heat and hold it there. Maintain high heat continuously for 20 minutes; the agitation emulsifies the collagen and fat into the water. The broth is ready when it has turned opaque and milky white throughout.
3
Do not skim the white fat from the surface. The milky appearance is the mark of the third service and is inseparable from the tradition. Strain the broth, discarding solids.
4
For glass noodles: place the dry fen si directly in individual bowls. Ladle the hot broth over them and leave to rehydrate. The noodles are ready when they are fully translucent and tender to the bite — they are not to be cooked in the pot.
5
Alternatively, for congee: return the strained broth to the heat, add the white rice, and cook until the grains are swollen and just beginning to break down into the liquid — a brief, simple porridge that carries the full accumulated flavour of the roasted duck.
6
Season each bowl at the table with ground white pepper and a few drops of sesame oil only. Taste: the broth requires nothing more.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Carcass from a specialist Peking duck restaurant's own roasted bird, third service prepared in-house by the kitchen while the second service is still at table — the full ceremony as it exists in Beijing.
02
Estate — Home-roasted Peking duck carcass, bones cracked immediately after carving; broth started without delay to preserve maximum rendered duck flavour.
03
Market — Purchased roasted duck carcass, bones cracked and simmered the same day; glass noodles from a Chinese grocer, rehydrated correctly in the bowl.
04
House — Any roasted duck carcass simmered at high heat with ginger; dried glass noodles rehydrated from hot broth; white pepper and sesame oil at the bowl.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. Broth is opaque and milky white — not clear — after 20 minutes at a vigorous simmer.
◇Sight. Glass noodles have turned fully translucent in the bowl.
◇Touch. Noodles yield without resistance when pressed between fingers — rehydrated through, not stiff at the centre.
◇Smell. The broth carries a clean, rich roasted duck aroma with no off or rancid note from the fat.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies on cracking every bone to expose the marrow before simmering — unbroken bones simmered at the surface yield a weak, clear stock that bears no resemblance to the milky, collagen-rich broth the third service demands.
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VI
What to Pour
The third service is a palate-cleanser and close to the full meal; it is traditionally consumed as such, without wine. If a beverage is served alongside, a plain, unroasted green tea — light and clean — suits the mild, rich broth without competing with it.
The whole pairingPillar VII
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