Nanjing, A City of Duck Dishes

All of us love food, and we have to agree that Chinese cuisine is one of the best dishes in the whole world or even in the whole universe. Chinese have many legendary dishes that are sold overseas. People love Chinese cuisine since it brings back most of us childhood memories and the taste of home dishes. Chinese cuisine offers comfort and ease when we consume it. One of the most famous Chinese cuisines in the world is duck dishes, such as braised duck, roast duck, boiled duck, etc. If you are a fan of duck dishes, Nanjing is the city that you should visit if you plan to travel in China.

Reverting to many years ago, around the 14th century, duck dishes became a famous dish among the Nanjing city. Historians believe that ducks were raised as livestock in Nanjing more than 2,000 years ago. During the Ming Dynasty, salted duck became the essential dishes for many families’ daily meals. Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of that period of time, gave orders to kill all the roosters in the city to resolve a dispute that happened during that time. The dispute is resolved, but another problem occurs, there are no chickens’ left to consume?

As for the result, people in Nanjing finally choose to consume duck instead, and one of the famous duck dishes called Nanjing salted duck was invented during that time. Since it has become more and more famous, people in Nanjing enjoy consuming salted duck as staple food with a cold drink in summer or a warm congee on a cold winter. Whether poor or wealthy people, salted duck has to be consumed once a day, with or without people accompanying, for breakfast or dinner. Consuming salted duck has already become a habit for them.

There are around 1,400 duck dishes spread and can be found all year in Nanjing. However, in autumn, when the sweet osmanthus blossoms in full bloom, Nanjing salted duck tastes the best since osmanthus is added in the dishes during the cooking process. Sweet aroma that is similar to a light sweet orange aroma from the blossom osmanthus make these dishes more tantalizing.

If you are searching for a not common duck dish, you should give a shot for duck blood vermicelli soup. When many western people didn’t consume blood and were not accustomed to consuming blood, duck blood vermicelli soup is one of the famous duck dishes in Nanjing city. You can easily find these dishes in the market or in the restaurant. Usually, people love to consume and make these simple dishes during a cool morning or chilly night. Chinese people cut the blood into small cubes and add flavorful clear broth that is made from spices such as pepper and cilantro to make it fresh. You can taste the silky and sticky texture from the blood mixed with the clear and fresh broth immediately when you scope a spoon of soup into your mouth.

Most of you are definitely familiar with famous duck dishes in Beijing called Peking duck. Similar to Peking duck in Beijing, Nanjing also has one roast duck dish called Jinling duck. This dish has a gold-red duck skin with oily, crispy, and delicious taste combined with tender meat. Legend has it that during the Ming Dynasty, emperor Zhu brought his favorite chefs when he moved the capital to Beijing, and these dishes became popular in Beijing and well known as Peking roast duck.

So, if you love food, especially duck dishes, make sure to come and visit Nanjing city when you travel in China. This city may become a heaven for you to try various kinds of duck dishes as much as you can.