Jinling Salted Duck
A traditional Nanjing specialty, cured in hot salt, simmered in master brine, and slow-cooked over gentle heat—yielding snowy white skin, rosy meat, rich fat, and bone-deep fragrance.
Ingredients
duckling (1500g)
1
fine salt (roasted hot)
125 g
Sichuan pepper (roasted hot)
1 g
scallion knot
5 g
ginger
2 g
star anise
1 g
Instructions
1
Preparing the duck
Clean the slaughtered fat duckling, cut off the small wings and feet, then make an opening about 6 cm long under the right wing. Pull out the trachea and esophagus through the opening, remove the innards, soak in clear water, wash off any blood, drain and set aside.
2
Marinating
Place the pot over the fire, add the fine salt and Sichuan pepper, stir-fry until hot and cooked, then transfer to a bowl. Place the duck on a cutting board, stuff 75 g of the hot pepper salt into the duck cavity through the wing opening and shake to distribute evenly. Rub 25 g of hot pepper salt all over the duck body, then use another 25 g of hot pepper salt and stuff it through the neck opening and into the beak. Then place the duck into an aged brine vat to marinate (1 hour in summer, 3 hours in spring/autumn, 4 hours in winter), then remove and place 1 g ginger slices, 2.5 g scallion knot, and 0.5 g star anise into the wing opening.
3
Cooking
Place a soup pot over the fire, pour in 2500 g of clear water and bring to a boil, add 1 g ginger, 2.5 g scallion knot, and 0.5 g star anise, then switch to low heat. Take a 12 cm long hollow reed tube and insert it into the duck's anus. Place the duck legs up and head down into the pot, cover with the lid and simmer for about 20 minutes, then switch to medium heat. When small bubbles appear around the edge of the pot, uncover the lid, lift the duck legs, and drain the broth from the duck's cavity back into the pot, then return it to the broth so the duck's belly fills with hot soup. Repeat this 3 to 4 times, then simmer on low heat for another 20 minutes. Remove the duck, take out the reed tube, drain the broth, cool and chop into small pieces, then arrange on a plate in the shape of a whole duck.
