A whole duck, dry-salted with Sichuan pepper, brined, then poached very gently and served cold in slices — pale, juicy and delicately salty.
What makes it nanjing salted duck
Rubbed with salt roasted with Sichuan pepper, then brined.
Poached below a simmer, never boiled.
Eaten cold, sliced, with its skin pale, not roasted.
Where it comes from
Nanjing has been eating salted duck for centuries, and the city is sometimes called the duck capital. It's best, people say, around the Mid-Autumn Festival, when the osmanthus flowers, which is where the name 'osmanthus duck' comes from.
The skill is in the poaching: the water is kept below a simmer so the meat stays soft and the skin white.
How it varies
Bǎnyā (pressed duck)
Salted, pressed flat and dried, then cooked later — the winter version.