Babao duck is a famous traditional dish in Suzhou and Shanghai, which belongs to Shanghai cuisine and Jiangsu cuisine. Babao duck is opened with a boned duck, stuffed with ingredients, buckled in a big bowl, sealed with cellophane, and the duck is plump and full, with outstanding original juice. When it comes out of the cage, it is poured with shrimps and green beans prepared with steamed duck's original brine, which is all fragrant. In September 218, it was rated as one of the top ten classic dishes in Shanghai as "Chinese food".

according to the "Jiangnan Festival as usual" recorded in Qianlong's southern tour in the first month of the 3th year of Qianlong's reign, "On the 25th day of the first month, Suzhou weaved Pufu glutinous rice duck, stewed meat in the spring of ten thousand years, duck with bad spring bamboo shoots and shredded chicken with bird's nest", and its "glutinous rice eight-treasure duck" was the most famous traditional dish in Suzhou at that time, including the Qing Dynasty's Tiaoding Collection and the Tongqiao Yi Lu Record.

Shanghai Babao Duck recommends

The Babao Duck in Shanghai is best cooked by the owner's shop in Shanghai Chenghuangmiao, which is very popular among diners. Therefore, it is well-known at home and abroad by gourmets. Originally, this shop only handled casual meals, and there were no famous dishes such as Babao Duck and Babaoji. It is said that in the 193s, an old customer suggested this store to handle such dishes.

At that time, the chef in the store didn't know how to make this dish, so he went to Dahongyun Hotel in the center of the city to buy an imitation of Babaoji, cooked it in a cage with bare chicken, chestnuts, diced bamboo shoots, wrist liver, ham and other accessories. After making it, the flavor is overflowing, and the chicken is tender and delicious, which is very popular with customers and soon becomes famous in the city. Later, they changed Babaoji into Babaoji duck, because the duck's chest is bigger than chicken's, and its skin is thin, so it is easy to steam and crisp. From then until today, Babao Duck is more famous than Babaoji.