“The Lion’s Den”
This Peking duck is now available to go – and it tastes fantastic
The founders behind the Mary Kwong brand: Mary-An (left) and Dennis Kwong
© Denise Wachter
Mary-An and Dennis Kwong’s Peking duck to go was born out of necessity in the famous dim sum house in Hamburg. They convinced the lions with their idea and landed a fat deal. Now they ship their ducks nationwide.
When the corona crisis swept the world, the Kwongs got inventive. If the guests can no longer come to the restaurant, the food has to come to the guests. First they served carved Peking duck out of the shop door. However, the demand was so great that they could not serve all customers, some went home upset. So another solution had to be found: the Peking duck to go was born.
It was Dennis Kwong’s grandfather who was flown to Hamburg as a Chinese specialty chef in the 1960s and made history in the dim sum house. The “China” restaurant at that time was the eighth Chinese restaurant in Hamburg, but unfortunately it didn’t work. The boss at the time quit and Kwong’s grandfather and father took over the business. Their approach: to create a place that serves the best of Cantonese cuisine.
Dim Sum House: Authentic Cantonese cuisine
Dennis Kwong’s grandfather was flown to Hamburg in the 1960s as a Chinese specialty chef
© private
For example, they served carp in three ways: once stewed, then steamed, and as a soup with tofu. When the first Chinese companies settled in Hamburg, the later dim sum house became a place to be for business lunches and family celebrations for the Chinese community. Dennis Kwong has worked at the restaurant since he was a child. He cleaned toilets, killed carp and translated for his parents, who didn’t speak German well. Today he runs the historic shop together with his wife Mary-An Kwong. They have modernized it, serve authentic Chinese cuisine and their concept is now also very popular with Germans.
The idea behind the Peking duck to go was for the guest to take care of the final preparation step at home. It wasn’t easy. “I fiddled around for a long time,” says Dennis Kwong. “At some point I had the perfect duck”. The preparation of Peking duck is very complex: you have to hang it up and air dry overnight, then marinate and air dry again, then grill for an hour and air dry again overnight and finally dry in the fridge so that the skin becomes crispy later. The result is impressive.
200 ducks a day
The vacuum-packed duck only has to go in the oven for 30 minutes, the meat is tender and tasty, and the skin cracks nicely in the mouth. You get the full Peking Duck experience at home. A duck is enough for at least two people and costs in Online shop marykwong.de around 90 euros including shipping costs. The Peking Duck Box also features a bamboo basket in which to steam the pancakes, wrap the duck, skin, cucumber and leeks and drizzle with a homemade hoisin sauce. Only the carving is something for the experienced, but there are instructions on Youtube on how to do it. With the carcass, i.e. the skeleton of the bird, a Peking soup can be prepared afterwards.
At Corona weddings, the Kwongs sent 200 Peking ducks a day, today the ducks are also ordered from London and Lisbon. In order to be able to cope with this workload at all, they had to outsource production. There was no more room in the restaurant for these quantities. The guest room served as a packing station during lockdown. But they needed investors to expand. So the Kwongs turned to “The Lion’s Den”, also to offer dim sums and sauces with their ducks, which ideally should also be available in the supermarket.
The idea took off: Mary Kwong, as the brand is called today, made a deal with Dagmar Wöhrl, Nils Glagau and Tillman Schulz: 300,000 euros for 30 percent. How the deal will work out in practice remains to be seen. Dennis Kwong draws his conclusion today: “I think grandpa would be pretty proud.”