Fresh start, just desserts

The duck is sliced into between 88 and 100 pieces and divided across three plates-one containing pure skin, one with breast meat, and one that combines skin and leg meat.

"If there is no fat left between the skin and the meat, and the skin melts in your mouth, the duck is cooked perfectly," says Zhao.

The chef has also prepared two sauces for the duck-one is a steamed-and-fermented flour sauce, while the other is a garlic sauce with sugar and sesame oil.

Presentation is also important to Zhao, who likes to slice the duck for his diners and show them how to best savor its flavors.

"The skin should be dipped in sugar, and the breast should be eaten with the special fermented-flour sauce, while the meat from the duck leg with the skin on should be combined with the garlic sauce, slices of cucumber and scallion, and wrapped in the lotus-leaf shaped pancake," says Zhao.

"We strongly recommend our diners finish the duck within 5 to 10 minutes after we serve it. Otherwise, the duck will get cold and lose its delicious flavor," he says.