Qinhuai Snacks

Sliced bean curd cooked with dry shrimp and yellow crab-shell-baked cakes

Bean curd slices with sesame oil and baked duck-oil cakes

Steamed bun stuffed with assorted vegetables and noodles with sliced chicken meat

Eggs boiled with five spices and tea leaves, spiced beans and Yuhua tea

Jellied bean curd with onion-and-oil cake

Beef soup and baked dumpling stuffed with beef

Thin-wrapper dumplings and noodles with fried fish in red soup

Small stuffed rice balls with acanthus flowers and five-colour rice balls and cakes

Local Delicacies

In the old days, true Nanjingers would unwind with a plate of salted duck, a glass of wine and the evening newspaper beside the Qinhuai River. At the other end of the societal scale, food in Nanjing is fit for the royalty of China's ancient dynastic capital. These dishes have been passed down to today and are an essential element of what makes Nanjing a great city.

Salted Duck

Simmered for 1 hour with pepper, ginger, yellow wine and star anise, Nanjing Salted Duck is a cold dish generally served as an appetizer.

Duck Blood and Vermicelli Soup

There's nothing quite like jellied duck blood, intestine, liver and gizzards together with smooth vermicelli, often enhanced with dried shrimps and coriander.

Hairy Crab

Gaochun District in Nanjing breeds some of the finest hairy crabs in China. September and October are the times to steam them, crack them and dip the meat in vinegar.

Small Steamed Bun

Small, almost translucent buns that are filled with soup. First timers will burn their mouths in gnawing off a chunk; experts poke a hole and suck the soup out first.