A Culinary Journey

The holidays are over, which mean we can start talking turkey. I mean, talking turkey about duck. Let me get my foot out of my mouth so we can enjoy one of the signature dishes from Morimoto Asia. We’ve all heard about the ridiculously delicious ribs, but the menu is filled with mouthwatering bits of deliciousness, from the aforementioned Morimoto Spare Ribs straight on through to the dish with the common name, but uncommon flavors, Orange Chicken. We could spend an entire week talking about all of the various dishes from Morimoto Asia, and I promise there are more articles to come, but today let’s focus in on the Morimoto Peking Duck.

This review is going to be as much about the pictures of the Morimoto Peking Duck as it the words in the review, so take a moment to stop and admire the perfectly prepared ducks hanging in the window of Morimoto Asia’s kitchen. Seriously, have you ever seen something so beautiful?

Morimoto Peking Duck is a whole duck that has been roasted in-house and then carved. The meal is recommended for two, but you do what you have to do, you hear me? Served alongside the dish are flour pancakes and two sauces, an apricot sweet chili sauce and a hoisin miso. Let’s go back up to that rack of ducks hanging in the window, this is an intricate part of the preparation process as the ducks, once they have been thoroughly cleaned has air pumped through them to separate the skin from the fat and meat, it is soaked in boiling water, and then hung up to dry, which is what we see above. While drying, the duck is further rinsed on the inside and a glaze is applied to the skin. After resting for approximately 24 hours, the duck is then roasted to a golden brown.

Now, I’m going to stop here for a moment to be totally honest. I’ve never been a fan of duck. I’ve always found it to be oily and the meat tough to chew. I have clearly, even though I’ve been to some pretty swanky restaurants in my time, never had duck prepared appropriately. This dish has changed my mind about duck and has renewed my interest in other duck dishes in the future.

Back to the duck at hand, the presentation of the dish is gorgeous. While it isn’t carved tableside, as can be common with Peking duck, the plate and bamboo dim sum container are enough to make your mouth water. As if I needed to prove my point, here are some more photographs.

I did pause long enough before I dived in to sample the duck alone for strictly academic purposes. The meat is succulent and the thin layer of fat will melt in your mouth, but the real winner here is the skin. Crispy, salty, and a bit sweet, I’m not sure I’ve ever had a better skin from any sort of poultry as I did with the Morimoto Peking Duck.

I’m not going to lie, I loaded up each pancake with as much duck as I could, a smear of both the apricot chili and hoisin miso sauces, some slices of green onion and kept on devouring the dish until there was no duck or pancakes left. I’m assuming the missus was also able to have some. In each pancake combo, you get perfectly steamed flour pancakes (think tortilla, not the breakfast staple), that wonderful duck, the bite of the green onions, and a harmonious balance of sweet, heat, tangy, and salty.

I don’t have more to add, other than I am definitely looking forward to my next meal at Morimoto Asia, and trying to figure out how to try some of their other delicious dishes when all I want is more of this duck. In all seriousness, regardless of your feelings towards duck dishes as a whole, do yourself a favor and give the Morimoto Peking Duck a try. I would be shocked if you don’t love it!