Roast duck is a famous dish in Beijing and Nanjing, belonging to Beijing cuisine or Jinling cuisine. It is famous for its red color, tender meat, mellow taste, fat but not greasy. It is slightly yellow in color, soft and fragrant, and can be eaten with other vegetarians. It is a common dish at banquets and a home-cooked dish.
Roast duck has a long history and originated in Jiankang, China in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. At that time, roast duck was recorded in the Record of Food Treasures. After Zhu Yuanzhang made Yingtian (Nanjing) his capital, the chefs of the Ming Palace Museum used Nanjing's plump and fleshy lake ducks to make dishes. In order to add flavor to duck dishes, the chef bakes them with charcoal fire. After the dishes were cooked, the ducks tasted crispy, fat but not greasy, and were praised by people, that is, they were named "Nanjing Roast Duck" by the court.