Dong Zhenxiang, founder and general manager of Da Dong Peking Roast Duck Restaurant, has reformed the technique of roasting and introduced a "super-lean" variety. jiang dong / China Daily

Chef and GM of the Da Dong duck restaurant chain, Dong Zhenxiang hopes to leave a culinary legacy. And it looks like he's succeeding. Ye Jun reports

Dong Zhenxiang, general manager of Da Dong Peking Roast Duck Restaurant, is known on the Beijing dining scene for several unmistakable characteristics.

Standing at 1.92 m, the 49-year-old Beijinger is possibly the tallest chef in China, hence his nickname: Da Dong, literally, Big Dong.

Dong is also likely one of Beijing's best-educated chefs, with an MBA.

Moreover, as the owner of a private restaurant chain, Dong is envied and admired for the consistently long queues at all three of his outlets, and the numerous awards won for the restaurant and for himself.

An average of 800 Peking roast ducks are consumed at Da Dong's three restaurants at Tuanjiehu, Nanxincang and Jinbao Place, every day.

A 600-year-old Beijing specialty, Peking roast duck is not only available in every home-style restaurant but also is prepared at age-old eateries such as Quanjude, Bianyifang, and King Roast Duck.

As a chef and restaurant manager, Dong had long noticed an increasing demand among customers for healthy food. So, in 1995, he set out to reform the technique of duck roasting and introduced "super-lean" roast duck.

The preparation of a Peking roast duck is a complicated process. Chefs must pump air beneath the skin, and scald it with hot water to make it dilate fully. Then, maltose water is applied to the skin, so the duck will turn a tempting jujube red after roasting. Next, the duck is dried, before roasting.

There were complaints among expats that, although Peking roast duck was tasty, it was too fatty. The ducks were traditionally roasted for 40 minutes. Dong prolonged that to an hour and 20 minutes. As a result, the amount of fat beneath the skin is decreased.

Moreover, he lowered the density of maltose water and prolonged drying time.

"The changes all have a purpose: to make the duck skin not only crisp, but also melt in the mouth," Dong says. "The skin should be dried thoroughly, and the roasting time should be prolonged as much as possible. The reason I make the best ducks is because I maintain the best balance between dry skin and juicy flesh."

Dong's "super-lean" ducks established a new standard for the famous Beijing specialty. Soon other Peking roast duck restaurants followed his example.

Da Dong said he experimented with several hundred ducks before coming up with "a secret recipe" to make them taste so good.

"People are all trying, but nobody has decoded it yet," he says. "Made in China, for example, makes excellent ducks. But the skin is just a tiny little bit not as good."

Dong says every duck at his eatery is prepared with traditional roasting methods - not in electric ovens, or heated by gas.

Specialized roast duck chefs stand in front of open brick ovens, and turn roast ducks hung on hooks to face the right direction, heated by fruitwood, such as that from jujube, apple, pear and apricot, which Dong says offers the most consistent heating power.

The training of a roast duck chef takes at least a year and a half.

In 1978, 17-year-old Dong graduated from high school and became a laborer in Beijing's countryside, as a "zhiqing", or educated youth.

In 1981, the Beijinger got his first job at a restaurant and met his first culinary teacher, Wang Wenchang, a year later at Yanqiao Restaurant, one of the biggest in Beijing at the time. For three years, he studied Shandong style cooking skills, including knife work, dish frying, dish layout and making assorted cold dishes.

"It was the happiest and hardest three years of my life," Dong recalls. "I worked very, very hard, day and night."

In 1985, Dong transferred to Beijing Roast Duck Restaurant, a joint venture restaurant with Quanjude, and worked under Xu Fulin, from whom he learned to make Peking roast duck.

Dong says he considers himself lucky to have met so many great teachers, including Wang Yijun, China's top Shandong cuisine master, with whom Dong studied cooking sea cucumber. He also learned from other chefs how to cook Cantonese, Sichuan, Huaiyang, and Western cuisines.

That's why Dong's restaurants offer so many good options other than duck.

Da Dong was one of the first restaurants in Beijing to combine molecular gastronomy with Chinese cuisine, as the result of his visits to, and cooperation with, Spanish restaurants.

That turned out some beautiful and interesting creations, such as double boiled bird's nest with rose jelly. About 10 of these type of dishes remain on the restaurant's latest menu, offering diners extra fun.

The menu is complete with 10 signature dishes. Da Dong's braised sea cucumber with spring onion is regarded by many as the best in China. Braised shark's fin with saffron sauce is a healthy shift from the traditionally used chicken broth. There is also a clever and tasty combination of Boston lobster with Beijingers' typical home food - noodles with traditional bean paste. Alaskan king crab is delectably flavored by Shaoxing rice wine.

Moreover, the eatery provides 10 popular dishes at a lower price level. These include kong pao prawn, sauted foie gras with hawthorn fruit, dry-pot fish head and braised venison tendon with shallot.

Everything at the restaurant is clearly Chinese, but the oily look that some dishes have has been cleaned up.

Da Dong's dishes are presented beautifully and concisely, like works of art. Major dishes on the menu are illustrated attractively, and each is matched with a line of Chinese poetry.

"The development of the restaurant business is synchronous with the advance of society. In the past 20 or 30 years, Western cuisine has benefited from the accumulation of wealth in the West and reached an aesthetic height," Dong says. "Meanwhile, Chinese foods are very delicious, but society and industry has not reached the same artistic levels."

In the past, a refined way to lay out Chinese dishes was to follow the style of Chinese "fine-stroke" realistic painting, with meticulous attention to detail, in the structure and carving of foodstuffs.

But Dong believes this is too complicated and instead adopted the style of Chinese freehand brushwork, with simple strokes but beautiful outlines. Dong shows his chefs miniature paintings with subject matters such as birds, bamboo or landscapes. In this way, he has formed a style of his own.

Dong has set up and leads a professional dish design team. They are studying classic local dishes and regional Chinese foods to get inspiration for new offerings. In the past three years, the restaurant has turned out a new menu annually. Last year, there were new dishes each season.

Dong loves taking photos at the food events he attends. His schedule for this year is full of food tasting events in Chinese and foreign cities famous for their culinary specialties.

The gastronome says his generation of Chinese chefs stands at a crossroad in history and has witnessed the fusion of traditional with modern, and of Chinese with Western.

"I have never before felt such a sense of responsibility," he says. "I want to really do something and leave a mark in history. It is my wish that Da Dong can push forward the development of the Chinese food industry."