Hand in Hand Peking Duck

elizbeartravel

Oct 7

Duck is my all-time favourite meat and I love it best done in the Peking duck way as the crispy skin paired with egg roll and fresh cucumber is so addictive. I remember visiting Beijing and having at least 3 meals of Peking Duck so when I saw the opening of Hand in Hand Peking Duck in JEM, I made sure to travel there to try out the Peking duck

Located on the 3rd floor of the JEM shopping mall, Hand in Hand Peking Duck is the 3rd venture of the Hand in Hand group with 2 other restaurants; Hand in Hand Beijing Restaurant in Jalan Besar and Hand in Hand Shandong Restaurant in Boat Quay. Founded in 2004, the group is helmed by Head Chef and founder Fei Li Ming who has experience in cooking for Chinese leaders like Jiang Ze Min

The restaurant itself was long in layout and can sit approximately 60 persons at any one time and when we arrived, there was a waiting list for dinner. Going with a simple clean modern look, the restaurant uses marble design table tops amidst a white and wooden-themed decor to create a soft and comfortable dining environment

We started with a few appetizer dishes like this fried tofu with spicy salt shaped like cute golden balls instead of the squarish ones on the menu. The tofu balls were fried till golden brown and crispy on the outside while still soft and smooth inside. The light flavouring of spicy salt adds a layer of savoury kick to the dish itself making it a delicious snack

The next dish which is quite popular as I see it on almost every table is this fried dumpling with fresh fish meat. Like the Japanese gyozas, the dumplings are pan-fried to create a nice-looking crust at the bottom of the dumpling while the top skin is still soft and chewy. Unlike the traditional pork meat dumplings, the fish meat ones are less juicy with a lighter flavour so you can taste the sweetness of the fish meat

The main dish to order and try was the Peking duck eaten 2 or 3 ways. The first way is the duck soup which is served first. The soup is cooked using the duck bones and meats left from cutting the meat and skin together with tofu and cabbage. While looking extremely bland, the soup is quite flavourful as the flavour from the roasted duck bones seeps into the soup to create a deep savoury base. The tofu and cabbage add a natural sweetness and milkiness to the broth itself to make a clean light soup. We had a similar dish in Beijing although my friend swears the soup in Beijing was superior, this version is also acceptable although they could be more light-handed with the pepper

The 2nd way of eating the duck is the way of eating the sliced meat with wrapped pancakes and condiments. Different from the Hong Kong versions, the duck meat and skin are cut together as a thick piece and eaten together. There are however a few slices of pure skin served on the small plate which the servers recommend dipping into the sugar before eating it on its own without any pancake. The skin-only pieces were very crispy and melted in your mouth and the added sugar actually gave it an additional caramelised flavour

The wrap given was a flour wrap which in my opinion was too thick and tough so after wrapping a few times, I added up eating the duck on its own. The skin was crispy and was perfectly paired with the juicy and succulent duck with a nice roasted flavour. The flavours were similar to normal roast duck and it was a pity that the skin-only pieces were so limited as I would prefer that style of Peking duck and have the meat cooked as another dish. We forgo the 3rd way of eating which was to fry the remaining bones with chilli pepper as we had enough duck for the day

Lastly, we also ordered the stewed pork with preserved vegetables as this is one of my favourite dishes and I could not resist a good stewed pork bun. Served with 4 steamed lotus leaf buns, you can make your own stewed pork and preserved vegetable sandwich. The pork was well stewed as the meat was tender and well infused with flavour from the preserved vegetables. Together with the bun, the dish was great but a tad too salty on its own

Overall, I am not that impressed with the Peking duck as it is the version I do not prefer as the meat slices are combined with the skin. While the duck flavours were good, it was nothing too out of the ordinary to visit them just for the duck since there are many other restaurants serving equally good or better roast duck. The rest of the dishes are generally ok so if you are just looking for a casual dining restaurant serving Chinese cuisine, no harm in trying them out

Address: 50 Jurong Gateway Rd, #03 - 23 Jem, Singapore 608549

Operating hours: 11 am to 10 pm