A Note On Peking Duck
There seem to be two main ways for serving Peking duck.
On the East Coast, the custom is to serve the crispy skin and the duck meat cut into chunks with the pancakes, scallions and hoisin sauce. (Sometimes cucumber slices are also provided). Many years ago, at least in Boston, the custom was to serve the duck with four legs, all with the skin on. This lead to some speculation about the exact nature of the animal being served. After all, ducks only have two legs. Some went so far as to refer to the dish as Peking kitty, or sometimes, in honor of Kliban's description of the cat as an animal similar to a meatloaf, as Peking meatloaf.
On the West Coast, the custom is to serve the crispy skin with the pancakes, scallions and hoisin sauce, and then to serve another dish made from the duck meat, usually flavored with hoisin sauce.
In the early 1970s, after Nixon's visit to China, and Peking duck was introduced to mainstream America, it was described in the popular media as being served as three dishes. One of these was the skin with pancakes and the like, one of these was the meat, and the third was a soup, presumably made from the duck carcass. We have never had this three part version, but if you ever get take out Peking duck with the carcass, it does make a wonderful stock. Just boil it up in a quart or two of water for an hour or two, then strain it. You can use this stock to make a great rice dish.
Basically, you use the stock instead of water to make a batch of rice. So, bring two cups of Peking duck stock to a boil, dump in a cup or raw rice. You can also chop up a carrot or some broccoli now and that in too. Lower the heat and let cook for 20 minutes and there you are.
