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Nanjing Salted Duck
Duck legs cured in salt and wine, buried in hot salt fried with Sichuan pepper and star anise, then gently steamed until tender and served cool — the report's home-scale take on Nanjing's salted duck. Adapted for a home kitchen from the original ClouChef R&D report — 盐水鸭, report 109.
Original poster image from clouchef.com (poster: 盐水鸭_109.jpeg). This is the hero poster only, not a step-by-step photo set.
Prep: 2 hours 10 minutesCook: 30 minutesTotal: 2 hours 40 minutesServings: 2Difficulty: MediumRegion: JiangsuFlavour: Lightly salted, five-spice fragrant
Why this works
Salted duck is a dish of restraint: the cure is just coarse salt and wine, two hours minimum, because shorter leaves the meat bland inside and longer than four hours makes it harshly salty. Frying the salt with Sichuan pepper and star anise before it touches the duck is what perfumes the cure — raw spices sprinkled on cold meat never bloom the same way, and the salt must stay below 150 °C or the pepper turns bitter. Wrapping the legs tightly in foil and steaming on low heat, or in a rice cooker's cook mode, cooks them gently without drying, and the centre must reach 75 °C and hold for two minutes. Cooling to room temperature before carving is not optional: hot salted duck shreds and tastes one-dimensional, while cooled duck slices cleanly and its salt and spice settle into balance. Serve sliced on a plain plate, with nothing more than a little of its own juices, so the clean salt flavour stays forward.
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Ingredients
| Ingredient | US | Metric | Substitute / note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duck legs | 10.5 oz | 300 g | Skin-on, bone-in; the report uses legs rather than a whole duck (adaptation note: a whole duck needs a longer cure and braise). |
| Coarse salt, uniodised sea salt | 1¾ oz | 50 g | For the cure; do not use fine table salt, which over-salts. |
| Sichuan peppercorns, red | 0.2 oz | 5 g | Fried with the salt. |
| Star anise | 0.1 oz | 3 g | Whole, fried with the salt. |
| Ginger slices | 0.35 oz | 10 g | Fresh old ginger. |
| Cooking wine | 1 tbsp | 15 ml | Huangjiu or Shaoxing wine. |
| Foil, for wrapping | As needed | As needed | — |
| Braising liquid, to drizzle (optional) | A little | A little | Only if you have it; it must be boiled before use, per the report. |
Equipment
- Non-stick pan for frying the salt
- Steamer or rice cooker
- Foil
- Chopping board and cleaver for carving
Steps
- Cure the legs. Wash the duck legs and pat completely dry with paper towels. Rub evenly with coarse salt and cooking wine, seal in a bag or wrap in film, and refrigerate for 2 hours. Do not cure longer than 4 hours or the duck will be over-salted.
- Fry the salt and spices. In a dry non-stick pan on low heat, fry the coarse salt with the Sichuan pepper and star anise for 3–5 minutes until the salt turns faintly yellow and smells fragrant. Keep the temperature below 150 °C or the pepper will turn bitter.
- Bury in hot salt and wrap. Immediately cover the duck legs evenly with the hot fried salt and spices and wrap tightly in foil, sealing well.
- Steam gently and cool. Place in a steamer or rice cooker (cook mode) and steam on low heat for 30 minutes, making sure the duck centre reaches 75 °C / 167 °F and holds for 2 minutes. The report suggests a rice cooker's keep-warm setting (80–90 °C) as a gentler alternative to direct heat. Remove, cool naturally to room temperature (about 10 minutes), then chop into pieces and plate, drizzling with a little boiled braising liquid if you have it.
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Technique: two hours curing, salt below 150 °C, cool before carving
The two failure points are salt temperature and cure time, and both are unforgiving: salt fried past 150 °C makes the pepper bitter and the whole cure harsh, and a cure past four hours cannot be undone by any later step. Dry the legs thoroughly before curing — water on the surface dilutes the salt and invites uneven seasoning. And do not carve hot: the meat needs its ten minutes of cooling to firm up and let the salt distribute, or it shreds and tastes saltier than it is.
Variations
- Whole duck: scale the cure up and braise longer, testing the centre temperature rather than the clock (adaptation).
- Extra fragrance: add a bay leaf to the fried salt (adaptation).
Frequently asked questions
Why coarse salt, not fine?
Fine salt dissolves too fast and over-salts the surface; coarse salt seasons gradually and is easier to control.
Can I use a rice cooker?
Yes — the report itself suggests it: cook mode for the steaming, or keep-warm (80–90 °C) for a gentler finish.
Why serve it cool?
Cooled salted duck slices cleanly and tastes balanced; hot it shreds and tastes one-dimensionally salty.
Storage and freezing
Best eaten the day it is made, cool. Leftovers keep 2 days refrigerated; serve cool or gently warmed, not reheated hard. Do not freeze the finished dish.
Nanjing Salted Duck — Recipe Card
Duck legs cured in spiced salt, steamed tender and served cool.
Prep: 2 hours 10 minutesCook: 30 minutesTotal: 2 hours 40 minutesServings: 2
Ingredients: 300 g duck legs; 50 g coarse salt; 5 g Sichuan pepper; 3 g star anise; 10 g ginger; 15 ml cooking wine; foil for wrapping.
Steps: 1) Rub legs with salt and wine; cure 2 hours. 2) Fry salt with pepper and star anise 3–5 minutes below 150 °C. 3) Bury legs in hot salt, wrap in foil. 4) Steam on low heat 30 minutes to 75 °C, cool, carve.
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Source note: ingredients, quantities and steps are adapted from the original ClouChef R&D report for 盐水鸭 (data/reports/109.md). The report's pricing, margin and marketing sections are deliberately omitted here; no B2B cost is presented as a home-cook cost. The report uses duck legs rather than a whole duck; this page follows the report and says so. Original poster image: clouchef.com (盐水鸭_109.jpeg).