Lake cooked salted duck (a specialty of Nanjing, Jiangsu)

The basic introduction of lake cooked duck

"Nanjing Duck Capital is famous for its beauty, and Jiangning Lake cooked duck is its hometown". Lake cooked duck has a plump appearance, a fat and white skin, tender meat, and a crispy and fragrant taste when eaten. Lake acquaintances have discovered over a hundred ways to eat ducks, and with a table full of colorful, fragrant, and delicious duck dishes, it makes people salivate and unforgettable. The biggest characteristic of lake cooked duck is its bright red color, crispy skin, tender meat, fat but not greasy, and suitable saltiness. But to taste the authentic flavor of lake cooked salted duck, the ingredients are of utmost importance. If the duck is not good, it will naturally not have such a good taste. The biggest characteristic of lake cooked duck is its bright red color, crispy skin, tender meat, fat but not greasy, and suitable saltiness. But to taste the authentic flavor of lake cooked salted duck, the ingredients are of utmost importance. If the duck is not good, it will naturally not have such a good taste

Lake cooked salted duck has a long history of over 600 years. According to the Tang Dynasty's "Wu Di Ji", as early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, including the Jiangning region, there was a tradition of "building land to raise ducks". Earlier historical records such as the Book of Chen, Southern History, and Qi Spring and Autumn Annals of the Six Dynasties have many accounts of eating ducks. There is another theory that the tradition of eating roasted duck in Beijing was brought by Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di from Nanjing during his capital relocation

Jiangning Lake has always had developed agriculture, prosperous commerce, and convenient transportation since ancient times. In ancient times, there were "galloping roads" on land, boats on water, and "night ferries" leading directly to Jinling. According to the "Annals of Shangyuan County in Wanli", "Zhaowen Academy is located in Hushu Town, where Liang Zhaoming dined and visited, and there is a Taizi Donghu Reading Platform..." The "Annals of Shangjiang and Two Counties" also record: "In the first year of Yongxing in the Jin Dynasty, on the ninth month of Guisi, the emperor was delighted to be at Hushu and praised it. He returned to the palace in Wuxu...". It can be seen that the lake was thriving at that time. As a traditional delicacy, Lake cooked salted duck has emerged, and it is the most famous delicacy in Jiangning with a profound historical origin

Lake cooked salted duck adheres to the traditional production process of "stir frying, salting, braising, drying, and boiling". The finished product has white skin, red flesh, and tender flesh, and is "oily but not greasy to eat, crispy and palatable, with a sweet aftertaste"

How did the history of lake cooked duck come about

During the Qing Dynasty, there were countless historical texts related to ancient Jiangning duck dishes, including "Jinling Suozhi", "Tiaoding Ji", "Suiyuan Shidan", "Scholars", and "Jinling Product and Local Customs". The "Jiangning New Annals" of the Qing Dynasty (Qianlong) recorded: "Those who purchase and find fat ducks soak them in slightly warm old juice, roast them over fire, and their color is extremely tender, especially in autumn and winter. They are commonly known as salted ducks, and their juice has been collected by descendants for decades as a permanent business... Jiangning specialties are also included." There is also a folk song that goes: "Ancient bookstores, glass towers, black satin, salted salted salted ducks". The salted salted duck produced by the lake, along with the Jiangning Prefectural School (the National Academy in the Ming Dynasty), the Dabao'en Temple Pagoda, and Yunjin in Jiangning City at that time, were listed as the most representative things in Jiangning City at that time