Nanjing Salt-Water Duck

A Nanjing specialty with duck-raising in Nanjing recorded as far back as the Spring and Autumn period (the Wujidi notes locals 'building enclosures to raise ducks'); salt-water duck itself rose to fame in the Ming and spread across the city by the late Qing, with the modern recipe stabilized in the late Ming and Qing as Nanjing became known as the 'duck capital.' The name 'salt-water' refers to the brine — there's no sauce involved, only a controlled poach in water that's been used many times over and grown deep with previous ducks.

Six Dynasties roots (3rd-6th c.); modern recipe stabilized in late Ming and Qing as Nanjing became the duck capital. Brine is an heirloom 老卤 — salt, star anise, scallion, ginger, Shaoxing wine, kept and replenished for years. Poach at 85°C, never bubbling — boiled duck shrinks and toughens.

Pale-pink duck flesh, cool, jellied at the skin with clear poaching aspic. No sauce, no glaze. The flavor is salt, star anise, and the duck itself — a clean meat taste with a faint wet-fragrant finish. Served sliced bone-in at room temperature. The good version stays moist where you bite; if the meat is dry or shreds along the grain, the duck was overcooked.

The brine is the heirloom — a 'master stock' (老卤) of salt, star anise, scallion, ginger, Shaoxing wine, kept and replenished for years. The duck is rubbed with hot salt, hung dry overnight, then poached in water just below boiling (around 85°C) — never bubbling. A boiled duck shrinks and toughens; the sub-simmer keeps the protein loose and lets the brine seep evenly to the bone.