Peking duck

Allergens at a glance

• UsuallyGlutenWheat pancakes, sweet bean sauce made from wheat flour, and maltose that can be barley-based.
• OftenSoyMany sweet bean sauces contain soybeans; hoisin and soy sauce always do.
• SometimesSesameSesame buns as a pancake alternative; sesame paste in many hoisin sauces.

Usually in the standard recipe. Often in many versions. Sometimes in some kitchens, or a cross-contact risk.

Diets

• Not vegetarian: the duck carcass is often served next as soup or a stir-fry.
• Not halal as standard: ask whether the duck is halal and what's in the sauce.
• Not suitable for coeliacs (celiacs): wheat pancakes and wheat-based sauce, and the glaze needs checking too.

Recipes change from kitchen to kitchen. If you have an allergy, confirm every ingredient with the restaurant before you order.

What is Peking duck?

Peking duck is a whole duck, glazed and roasted until the skin is thin, crisp and deep brown, then carved into slices and eaten wrapped in thin pancakes. It's Beijing's most famous dish, and the carving is often done by a chef at your table. The skin is the point: the meat is served alongside it, but it's secondary.

What's in it

The duck is inflated to separate the skin from the meat, scalded, brushed with a maltose syrup and hung to dry before roasting. Beijing restaurants use two main methods: hung in an open, wood-fired oven (挂炉, guàlú) or roasted in a closed oven (焖炉, mènlú).

It comes with:

• Thin wheat pancakes (薄饼 báobǐng or 荷叶饼 héyèbǐng), steamed to keep them soft
• Sweet bean sauce (甜面酱, tiánmiànjiàng), a dark fermented wheat paste, or hoisin outside northern China
• Shredded spring onion and cucumber
• Sometimes sugar for dipping the crispest skin, garlic paste, or hollow sesame buns instead of pancakes

Many restaurants then serve the rest of the duck as a second course, a soup or stir-fry made from the carcass (鸭架, yājià).

Allergens and diets

Almost everything on the plate contains gluten. The pancakes are wheat, and sweet bean sauce is made from fermented wheat flour, despite the name. Even the glaze can matter: Chinese maltose syrup is traditionally made by converting rice starch with malted barley or wheat. If you're coeliac, ask how the duck is glazed and seasoned before considering the skin and meat on their own.

Soy depends on the sauce. Many sweet bean sauces include soybeans, and hoisin, used widely outside Beijing, is soy-based. The carcass soup or stir-fry often adds soy sauce.

Sesame appears when sesame buns are served in place of pancakes, and in hoisin sauces that list sesame paste. A dash of sesame oil may go into the second-course dishes.

On the menu

Peking duck is written 北京烤鸭 (simplified) or 北京烤鴨 (traditional). You'll usually order by size:

• 一只 yì zhī: a whole duck
• 半只 bàn zhī: half a duck
• 片皮鸭 piànpí yā: sliced-skin duck, the Cantonese style, often served as skin only
• 鸭架汤 yājià tāng: duck-carcass soup

Allow time: some restaurants roast to order and ask you to book the duck ahead.

How to eat it

Spread a little sauce on a pancake, add a few slices of skin and meat, some spring onion and cucumber, then roll it up and eat with your hands.

Last checked 1 November 2026. Spotted something wrong? Email support@inventum.com.au.