Nanjing salted duck is the only low-temperature livestock and poultry product in Chinese history, which is completely different from traditional pickled products.

The salted duck is cooked at low temperature. After about an hour of cooking, the tenderness of the salted duck reaches a certain level.

The muscles of salted duck cooked at low temperature have good water storage properties and maintain the juiciness of duck meat. Salted duck is a famous specialty of Nanjing. It belongs to Jinling cuisine and is one of the representatives of Jinling cuisine. It is also called Osmanthus duck and is a geographical indication product of China.

Because Nanjing is nicknamed "Jinling", it is also called "Jinling Salted Duck". It has a long-standing reputation and has a history of more than 2,500 years.

The white duck skin and meat are tender, fat but not greasy, fragrant and delicious, and have the characteristics of fragrant, crispy and tender.

Nanjing salted duck is the only low-temperature livestock and poultry product in Chinese history, which is completely different from traditional pickled products.

The salted duck is salty, sweet and fragrant, with a smooth and tender texture.

The meat is jade white, oily and shiny, the skin is fat and the bones are fragrant, extremely tender, salty and delicious.

Salted duck is the most delicious duck I have ever eaten, but for the mother-in-law from Hunan, it was the first time she received the duck from her son-in-law from Nanjing, and she couldn't handle the chopped ginger and garlic.

It's not like Changde salted duck, which can be torn open and eaten directly; nor is it like Yongzhou blood duck, which can be chopped and stir-fried.

Looking at the pale duck, the mother-in-law still didn't believe that this duck that looked not yet ripe could taste.

It doesn’t matter whether you eat salted duck when you go to other places, but when people from outside come to Nanjing, they definitely want to eat it.

In the city of Nanjing, there is a saying that "there is no dinner without ducks".

Especially for guests coming from afar, Nanjing people not only provide warm hospitality, but also watch the guests eat the food with their own eyes, in order to fulfill their duties as landlords.

Three minutes later, the mother-in-law spit out the duck bones and began to ask where the salted duck in Nanjing was delicious.

For Nanjing people, delicious ducks are all found downstairs in their homes.

There are duck shops everywhere in the streets and alleys of Nanjing, no matter whether they are in Laoxiaguan or on the Qinhuai River. The signboards of the shops without exception read "Shui Ximen Slim Duck".

The three words "Shui Ximen" represent not only the shape and taste of the duck, but also the culture of eating duck in old Nanjing.

As a foodie during the Republic of China, Zhang Tongzhi once recorded in "The White Gate Cookbook" that the best salted duck in Jinling was Chef Wang in the west alley of Qijiawan.

The fragrance of osmanthus, fat and crispy, is unmatched by other places.

Later, another Han Fuxing restaurant appeared in Cangxiang not far away. He was also good at making salted duck. The duck was fat and fragrant, and he became famous in Nanjing.

Because both of these two houses are close to Shuiximen, and Shuiximen is the most important waterway terminal in Nanjing, and the duck market is also in Shuiximen area, the reputation of "Shuiximen Salted Duck" has spread far and wide. Even today, it has become a

Synonymous with Nanjing salted duck.

Under the salt-white body, it is difficult to distinguish the color, but in the mouths of Nanjing people, even the name can be heard.

Zhang Yun's salted duck has firm skin and meat, a salty taste, and no greasy feeling; Lu's duck has smooth skin and crispy meat, and a bag of marinade is the essence of eating duck; Chen's duck has fat under the skin, but

Not greasy at all, sandwiched with crispy bones, tender, crispy and smooth, with just the right amount of saltiness... The better the duck, the more different flavors can be produced by smashing it, and a clever foodie can even distinguish it from the duck meat.

Spices and steps for braised duck.

Why does Nanjing’s salted duck look like it’s uncooked?

Some experts have revealed that the production of salted duck is not like the traditional braised duck, which is cooked with marinade, but directly scalded with boiling water.

Although salted duck seems to be just a handful of salt and a tank of brine.

But under this "pure" duck meat, there are many unknown spices hidden in it. Under the same "white duck", each duck shop has its own unique recipe.

When it comes to food, all Nanjing residents are gourmets. They know the five spices at a glance. If they are not enough after eating them, they have to study them carefully and write a book.

It is easy to produce writers in Nanjing, but it is rare to produce a chef.

For example, Yuan Mei, Zhang Tongzhi, Zhang Henshui, Ye Zhaoyan, and Xue Bing all love to write about Nanjing's food, and they also like to study food recipes, such as the recipe of salted duck, which often appears in the writers' articles.

But if you want them to do it themselves, that's a different story.

Just like the Nanjing people who eat ducks, they cut off a duck to avoid cooking.

Even if he queues for an hour at the braised duck restaurant downstairs, he will only think that the duck here is delicious and worthy of his queue.

Instead, spend the hour waiting in line to buy vegetables, wash vegetables, and cook.

Therefore, in Nanjing city, eating duck is as common as three meals a day, which surrounds the daily life of Nanjing people.

Drink porridge in the morning and chop a duck.

Even if you have a big meal at noon, you have to chop a duck.