Hangzhou Soy Sauce Duck
A whole duck cured in dark soy sauce and spices, air-dried in the cold winter wind, then steamed and chopped into pieces and served at room temperature as a cold dish.
How to eat it
It is served chopped through the bone into chunks and arranged on a plate, skin up, glossy and dark. Pick up pieces with chopsticks and eat around the bones, which are small and easy to find. The meat is firm and dry rather than tender, closer to a cured ham than a roast, and the flavour is strong, so a piece or two per person is enough. It needs no sauce. If you buy a vacuum-packed duck, steam it whole to soften it, then chop it; eating it straight from the packet is a mistake.
The story behind the dish
Curing duck in soy sauce and hanging it to dry is a winter task in Hangzhou households, done after the first cold winds of the eleventh or twelfth month so the meat dries without spoiling. The finished ducks hang from balconies across the city in December, and they are a fixture of the New Year table. Commercial producers took over most of the work in the twentieth century, and delicatessen counters now sell it year-round, but the seasonal logic still shows in the flavour: cold, dry air is what gives the meat its firm, concentrated texture. It is one of the most common food gifts carried home from Hangzhou.
For reference
Every kitchen does it its own way. What follows is the typical version — ingredients, heat and price shift from city to city and from one restaurant to the next, so take it as a guide rather than a fixed recipe.
If you have an allergy or something you can't eat, check with the staff before you order.