Embedded Files
This is part two of my last article. Now, we are going to explore the second important attraction of Nanjing-foods! Nanjing has many special and different foods. If you haven't tasted traditional Nanjing foods in Nanjing, that means you didn't come to Nanjing. There is a quote that said it's not possible to let a duck fly out of Nanjing. That is why there are so many duck foods!
Foods
Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup: This is my favorite noodle in China! This is a traditional food from Nanjing! It's known for its unique texture, with the duck blood cubes that look like the bean curd and the vermicelli noodles has a smooth, soft texture. You may think the name is very odd, but it not only has duck blood in it, it has every part from duck in it! Also the soup is delicious. You need to cook 1 hour to make this beautiful soup. When you put vermicelli in it, and eat and drink it together, it feels smooth and chewy. The story of this soup is that a Nanjing person was reluctant to pour out the duck blood when he killed a duck. Unexpectedly, vermicelli fell into the bowl of duck blood. He had to cook the vermicelli and duck blood together. Surprisingly, this created the first bowl of duck blood and vermicelli soup. The aroma of the soup filled the air and attracted countless praises from passers-by, and this delicacy was later introduced. If you go into a traditional Nanjing restaurant, you can smell this soup everywhere. When you just look at the soup, it makes you want to try it eagerly. But here is a tip for you: This soup may sound delicious, but if you have a fever, don't drink it because it can make you feel worse. Never order takeout for duck blood vermicelli soup, because you don't know if it's fresh or not. It can be super unhealthy.
Nanjing Xiaolongbao: When you eat this delicious food with Duck blood vermicelli soup, it can be juicy and good! This food is more like baozi, a traditional Chinese food. But the difference is that baozi has a lot of different flavors, but Xiaolongbao doesn't. Also, Xiaolongbao are very juicy and you need to be careful when you eat them. My suggestion is when you are eating this: bite the side first. But only a little bit. Then, drink all the juice from the meat from the little hole you bite. Next, eat the whole thing with one bite! You may get hurt from the hot meat juice when you just put it in the mouth. This food is famous for its "small size, large filling, rich juice, delicious taste, thin skin and beautiful shape." Also, if you want to eat this, my recommendation is to eat it with vinegar. Everybody knows that Chinese people love to eat dumplings with vinegar. But, why Xiaolongbao? I think because Xiaolongbao has rich juice inside, of course, and the juice is sweet. So, the vinegar is sour. When the sour and the sweat combine together, it gets a unique flavor that you will definitely like! The tip is: Follow the direction above when you are eating this food. If you don't, Xiaolongbao could spill all the juice into the bowl!
Nanjing Beef Potstickers: I miss the potstickers in Nanjing! They are just like dumplings, but are fried. You can eat this food with vinegar too! The potstickers contain a sweet and savory snack. They are tender on top, crispy on the bottom, and have a savory beef filling with a unique flavor. Another reason for why they are so yummy is because the dough on the outside is crispy and yellow! They are not as juicy as Xiaolongbao, but they have beef inside. There are pork potstickers too! For pork potstickers, though, you are basically just eating dumplings. (This is because dumplings have pork in them.) This food has a very old history. Every Nanjing person knows about this food and every Nanjing person loves this food! Every time I walk into a beef potstickers restaurant, I always can smell the beef! Maybe it's not fancy, but it is a good take-out food when you are outside. Also, another tip for you: If you want to get the potstickers in a restaurant during the morning, you need to be very early. Usually, around 7 o'clock a.m., the restaurant fills with people. Some people even start the line at 6 am! But in my opinion, the best time to go is in the evening. Not all the people like to eat potstickers in the evening; they like to eat them at noon.
Salted Duck: Even though there are many duck foods, this is the famous duck food in Nanjing! Salted Duck has a long process to make. If you miss an ingredient, the duck will taste bad! Because these ducks take such a long time, they are expensive too. The salted duck recipe was first perfected 2,500 years ago. The duck has white skin and tender meat, is fat but not greasy, and is fragrant, crispy and tender. The salted duck is made around the Mid-Autumn Festival, when osmanthus flowers are in full bloom. Then, it has the best color and taste, and is called osmanthus duck. The first time I tried this food, I felt like it was oily and very salty. But, when I tried it the next time, I didn't find it salty anymore. It was just the right flavor. If you eat this with rice, it can be yummy. But one suggestion is that the Salted Duck doesn't have any spice like vinegar, but I think eating it alone is the best choice anyways. As I said, the best time to eat Salted Duck is around the Mid-Autumn festival. But, if you want to buy it, go to a store that is far away from the center of Nanjing. You would need to get up early and wait 2 hours to buy it.
Skin Belly Noodles: Even though this noodle is not the traditional Nanjing noodle, it's Nanjing's special noodle. This noodle is wide and big; it utilizes pork skin. When other spices are added together, it gets more sweet. If you put chili into the special soup for it, it can become salty! There are actually only 3-6 noodles in the bowl. If you fill it with spice and soup, though, it can look huge and delicious. Elders like to eat this food because they are healthy and can make your skin beautiful. Another way to eat this meal is to fry the noodles. With the fresh and crunchy noodles added to the warm soup, it can be long and tasty. My grandma once said that this soup is rich, with a variety of ingredients, fresh and refreshing. The tripe, or cow stomach, contains a lot of trace elements, which can promote metabolism and nourish the skin. If you want to eat this noodle, you don't need to go to a special restaurant or drive far away; you can just eat in any university's cafeteria. The food in the cafeteria is the most traditional and delicious food.
Jinling Roast Duck: There is also a roast duck from Beijing. But you need to use the food that looks like pancake to cover it. For Jinling Roast Duck, just grab your chopsticks and eat it! This roast duck is crunchier than others. When you bite it, the duck will melt in you mouth and drift away! "When eating roast duck, Nanjing people pay attention to crispy skin and tender meat, fat but not greasy, so Nanjing roast duck has crispy skin and tender meat, not as greasy as roast duck in other regions. However, real connoisseurs are very picky about the bag of red sauce provided by the store. You can generally guess whether the roast duck in the store is good by looking at the appearance, but you have to taste it to know whether the old sauce is right." This is what my grandpa told me when I first saw and tasted the Roast Duck. Here are some suggestions for you: Roast Duck is popular, but you don't need to get up early to get the tasty duck. As I said, the sauce is the most important part. But, my suggestion is when you want to eat it to-go, cook or microwave the sauce again when you get home. The hotter the sauce is, the yummier the roast duck is.
Sweet Osmanthus Taro: Now, this is the dessert of Nanjing. People called this food "love street food!" This dessert is made by osmanthus and has taro, a root vegetable, in it. When you eat this, you can practically taste the smell of osmanthus in the delicious soup. The taro is very big when you eat it, but after eating some, you could enjoy it as a drink. If you drink those in winter, you could feel warm and relaxed or comfortable. Nanjing people usually like to drink this after lunch; after all the yummy food is gone to the stomach, they could try the sweet osmanthus taro. But, if you are under 14, don't eat too much! This food contains a little wine to increase the sweetness, so be careful. The smooth taro sprouts have a smooth and refreshing taste, sweet and crisp. The soup they are in is bright and attractive with a red sauce color, exuding a rich osmanthus fragrance, and leaving a lingering fragrance on your lips and teeth after eating. The tip for this one is: this food is around the Mid-Autumn Festival, and there might be a lot of people in the store. So, you should get this for breakfast or order this online.
Plum Blossom Cake: This belongs to the dessert section, too. But, it is a warm cake. This is not like other desserts because it does not have plum blossoms in it. It is because it looks like a blossom. Plum Blossom Cake has two parts: the top and the body. On the top, there are several foods like boba, red dates and fruits. Inside, there is warm red bean paste. Those two important parts make the amazing Plum Blossom Cake. This cake has a long history, it is from the Ming Dynasty, it became the most famous traditional cake snack in the Jiangnan region during the Qing Dynasty. It is said that when Emperor Qianlong visited the south of the Yangtze River, he saw that it was shaped like a plum blossom and had an attractive color, so he ordered it to taste. It was sweet but not greasy, soft and crispy, and had an endless aftertaste, which is better than the imperial court snacks. People applauded it. Here are some suggestions about this: The best time to eat this is when you just buy it from the restaurant. It could be hot for the red bean paste, and the top is warm and can be eaten quickly.
As you can see, Nanjing has a lot of wonderful foods to eat. They all have their own style. You need to find the food that you are most interested in and have fun with those! Here is a form that you can fill in and tell me what is your favorite food!
If you have any suggestion or question, please email 14215@wpsstudent.com!
Source
Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup 2. Nanjing Xiaolongbao 3. Nanjing Beef Potstickers
4. Salted Duck 5. Skin Belly Noodle 6. Jinling Roast Duck
7. Sweet Osmanthus Taro 8. Plum Blossom Cake
Page updated
Report abuse