Carving up the Peking duck
If you have ever played the traditional children’s circle game where you invariably end up chasing each other and yelling “duck” or “goose”, chances are it might have imprinted a life-long love of poultry on your palate. But for a meal to remember or to wow your guests, few convey grandeur or celebration quite like Peking duck can. After all, it traces its roots back to the kitchens of the Forbidden City, China. Legend has it Aisin Gioro Hongli, the Qianlong Emperor, was particularly fond of duck roasted using the hanging oven technique.
And since it is a dish fit for a king (or an American president, as Zhou Enlai famously served it to Richard Nixon as well as his secretary of state Henry Kissinger), preparing it is no mean feat, involving a lengthy and laborious process. This includes, first, fattening up a gaggle of white ducks. Once they are nice and rounded (a good amount of fat is essential to a perfect Peking duck), plucked and cleaned, a pump (yes, you read it right) is conscripted to drive air between the bird’s skin and flesh to make it plump yet taut once roasted. Boiling water also needs to be lovingly ladled over the bird to ensure the skin is nice and tight. Maltose syrup is then used to “paint” it to ensure crispness and a rich, tempting shade of mahogany — the signature lacquered skin that whets appetites at first glance.
If all that talk is making your mouth water, perhaps it is time to reserve a table at one of Kuala Lumpur’s newest Chinese restaurants — the aptly named China House at Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur at KL Midtown. Not to be confused with the Grand Hyatt KL (which is having a fantastic kitchen takeover by Err by Bo.lan of Bangkok until Nov 30, by the way) or the shiny new Park Hyatt at Merdeka 118, the Hyatt Regency’s Chinese dining room is located in the Mont’Kiara vicinity, right across the road from MITEC. Architectural enthusiasts will appreciate the elegant Kengo Kuma design while others will be grateful to not have to schlep all the way downtown for dinner.
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Those needing to entertain will be happy to learn that China House is open every day of the week, making it an easy option for those who need to host guests someplace nice and yet convenient on dreaded Mondays, when many of the finer establishments take a day off. There are four rooms, named after the Chinese word for each of the seasons, such as Xia (summer) and Dong (winter), if greater privacy is needed. The restaurant’s menu is expansive but, of course, Peking Duck (RM288 for a whole bird and RM158 for half) is the star dish and a must-order.
In Beijing, wood from fruit trees such as jujube, pear and peach are traditionally used to fuel the roasting ovens (and impart a sweet smokiness to the meat) but China House takes an innovative local twist by using rambutan wood instead. After being roasted for 75 minutes, the duck is carved tableside and served with all the requisite bells and whistles (julienned cucumber, Chinese leeks and sweet bean sauce), while the gracious staff do an expert job of rolling them up into neat little pancakes for you. But prior to tucking in, the best part about Peking duck must first be savoured — the paper-thin, crisp skin. In keeping with tradition, it is customary to dip a small square of the skin into white sugar first before letting the flavourful fat melt on your tongue. And then just wait for that wonderful chemical chain reaction to go off in the brain as neuropeptides and neurotransmitters are released. This magic occurs as the tongue recognises and acknowledges the glory that is long-chain fatty acids landing right smack on its taste receptors.
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After the main event, it is customary for the bird to be taken back to the kitchen before reappearing a short while later, shredded and stir-fried with noodles or boiled in a soup with some tofu and vegetables. But give the usual resurrections a miss and opt instead for the bones to be fried in a searing hot wok with just salt and pepper. China House’s spin on this is, to steal a famous poultry phrase, finger lickin’ good. But lest you think China House is all about duck, it is not. The hotel’s executive Chinese chef, Qingdao native Alan Shao, has put together a menu of delectables that focus on northern flavours but with regional specialities thrown in. Vegetarian tofu soup (RM38 per portion) sounds humdrum but chef Shao and team’s prowess with knife skills transform a humble dish into a masterpiece, using thin parallel cuts to create a piece of tofu that blossoms open in the hot broth like a chrysanthemum (or sea anemone).
To impress, there is Australian rock lobster, Boston lobster or thumping-sized mud crabs (RM138, RM78 and RM45 per 100g respectively) which you can have wok-fried with scallion and ginger, Typhoon Shelter-style with crispy garlic and breadcrumbs, or cooked with noodles (memories of Mandarin Kitchen in London, anyone?). But for something different, China House’s suggestion of turning the classy crustaceans into the most luxe mapo tofu you could ever have is daring and delicious.
There are heaps of other things to try but unless you have zero struggles with the weighing scale, it is best to save them for the next visit, as tempting as Angus beef fried rice with asparagus, crispy garlic lamb chops with black bean and dried chili, and braised silver pomfret with rice cakes sound.
This article first appeared on Oct 20, 2025 in The Edge Malaysia.
