A dish of salted duck, fresh and fragrant, hidden in Jinling City's four seasons fireworks

in the four seasons of Nanjing, there is always a clear and mellow duck fragrance. Whether it is the marinated vegetable shop in the depths of the old lane or the convenience stalls in the streets, you can always see salted ducks with neat size, white skin and tender meat. There is no thick oil and red sauce, no spicy and stimulating seasoning, only with clear bittern soaking and boiling, salt fragrance, white skin, tender meat, green bone, fresh, one bite down, salty and moderate, moist but not greasy, fresh and sweet, this is called "Jinling peerless" special cuisine, is Nanjing people carved in the bones of the daily taste, is the standard for the holidays, it is a must-have hard dish for guests and friends. It is also the most down-to-earth smell of fireworks shuttling between green bricks and tiles in Jinling City.

I am Xu Zhixia, 29 years old this year. I am a native of Nanjing's old city. I have been sharing Jinling's local food in howcooks for four years. I have a warm and easy-going temperament and prefer light and real home-style tastes. I grew up in the old alley. I wake up every day with the fragrance of salted duck in the alley mouth marinated restaurant and followed my grandmother to the vegetable market and buy marinated duck. I am not a professional food blogger. I am just obsessed with the traditional taste of old Nanjing, especially the salted duck. It is not a rare banquet dish, but it is the most inseparable home taste from my childhood. It is Jinling homesickness that I care about most after leaving home, and it is also the taste of Nanjing that I want to share with my friends from other places.

Old Nanjing people often say that "no duck can't make a mat", and salted duck is the top stream in Nanjing duck cuisine, and it is a taste symbol engraved in the city fireworks. In my memory of childhood, what I look forward to most every evening is that my grandmother cuts half of the salted duck from the marinade restaurant in the vegetable market to go home. At that time, the marinade restaurant was made and sold now. The freshly fished salted duck had a white, oily skin and a faint fragrance of salt. The master cut it into small pieces and packed it into white porcelain plates without extra dipping. It was delicious enough to eat directly. When I come home from school, I always secretly knead a piece of duck breast meat. The entrance is tender and firm, without any fishy smell. There is only pure meat fragrance and bittern fragrance, which is clear and moist. Even the duck skin is smooth and not greasy, and the more it chews, the more fragrant it is. During the holidays, the whole salted duck is indispensable at home. Whether it is eaten at home or visited by relatives and friends as a companion, it is extremely decent. This fresh duck fragrance has accompanied my entire childhood and youth, and has become me. The deepest taste memory of Nanjing.

Salted duck is a characteristic food of Nanjing, with a long history of more than 2500 years. It is not only a geographical indication product of China, but also the core representative of Jinling food culture. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Nanjing had the custom of raising and eating ducks. In the Song Dynasty, the production technology of salted ducks gradually matured and became a popular delicacy among the people. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, salted ducks became famous and became palace tributes. The salted ducks made when the sweet-scented osmanthus flowers were in full bloom before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival were the best quality and aroma, so on, so on, so on ". Nanjing is located in the south of the Yangtze River. It has dense waters and a warm climate. It is rich in high-quality ducks. Its meat is tender and fat. It provides excellent food materials for the production of salted ducks. The traditional craft emphasizes "stir-frying and pickling, clearing and marinating, baking dry and fully cooked". It does not add too many spices. It relies on the extreme combination of salt and clear water to retain the original taste of duck meat to the maximum extent. After thousands of the process, it has always maintained the core taste of fresh and moist fragrance, and has become the most representative food business card in Nanjing, which is famous all over the country.

I sincerely recommend you to try the authentic Nanjing salted duck. First, it is a representative of Jinling cuisine for a thousand years. It carries profound historical and cultural heritage and is a living fossil of Nanjing's food culture. It is not only delicious, but also the fireworks context of the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties. The cultural value and taste value are both unique. The authentic salted duck skin is white and tender, fat but not greasy, clear and sweet, salty and moderate, with unique "green bone" characteristics, no fishy smell, no heavy mouth, no matter southerners or northerners, can easily accept, suitable for all ages; third, cooking is healthy and unburdened, using clear water steaming, The traditional process of salted and tasty, no heavy oil, no heavy spicy, no excess additives, low fat and high protein, healthy nutrition, which meets the needs of the current healthy diet; fourth, it is not only a table dinner, a guest companion gift, but also a casual snack and a side dish with wine. It can be eaten cold or hot, which is convenient and ready to eat and has a high cost performance. Fifth, the distinctive regional characteristics are the unique classic taste of Nanjing. It is difficult to recreate the authentic taste in other places. You can feel the gentle fireworks of Jinling City in one bite. It is a special food that you must taste when you come to Nanjing.

Authentic Nanjing salted duck is very exquisite in its production process. Its core lies in "pickled thoroughly, cooked stably and dried in the air". Nanjing local high-quality hemp duck must be selected with moderate size and tender meat. Crude salt and a little pepper are first fried and heated, evenly smeared inside and outside the duck body, pickled to taste, then put into special brine to reheat, control the time and temperature, and then hang in a ventilated place to dry, finally, boil it slowly with clear water over a small fire. The temperature is the key. Keep the soup slightly boiling. It cannot be boiled over a large fire to prevent duck meat from getting old and getting firewood. After cooking, cool and chop the pieces. This is the most authentic taste. The old Nanjing candidate for salted duck also has its own way. It should choose the one with white skin, tight meat and fragrant fragrance. The more the old alley's time-honored marinated restaurant, the more authentic the taste, the less fancy packaging, and the retention of regular customers depends on craftsmanship and taste.

When I grew up, I left Nanjing to work in other places. I ate many local duck dishes, including marinated duck, roast duck and all kinds of duck pots. However, I could not find the fresh and moist fragrance of my hometown salted duck. Many salted duck made in other restaurants either have firewood meat, salty taste or obvious fishy taste. They did not have the warm and sweet taste of the old Nanjing salted duck. Every time I return home, the first time I get off the bus, I will always go to the time-honored marinated restaurant at the corner of the lane, cut half of the salted duck, and go down in one bite. The familiar taste will come on my face, and all the tiredness in a foreign land will be healed. This is the taste of homesickness, simple but cured.

I share Jinling cuisine in howcooks, and every time I recommend salted duck, not because of how valuable it is, but because it best represents the fireworks of Nanjing. It has no flamboyant taste and gorgeous appearance, but it has moved generations of Nanjing people with the most authentic freshness. It is not only a dish, but also the fireworks in the south of the old city, the cultural symbol of Jinling city, the most steadfast homesickness in the heart of every Nanjing wanderer, and the warmest companion in the ordinary three meals.

If you also prefer light, authentic, warm and sweet food, you must try the authentic Nanjing salted duck. You don't have to deliberately go to high-end restaurants, and you can taste the most authentic taste in the old lane. If you have the chance to come to Nanjing, you may as well stroll in the streets and lanes in the south of the old city, stroll around the Confucius temple and the east of the old gate, cut a dish of salted duck, taste a bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup, and slowly feel the warmth and fireworks of Jinling city. Have you ever eaten the authentic Nanjing salted duck? What is the most memorable city cuisine in your heart? Welcome to share your comments in the comment area, or you can come to the howcooks to find me to unlock more stories and eating methods of authentic Jinling cuisine.