Made with fresh shrimp paste enveloped in a thin wrapper made from egg, Ma Xiang Xing's egg shaomai is like a bite-size seafood omelet.
Egg shaomai —
Made with fresh shrimp paste enveloped in a thin wrapper made from egg, Ma Xiang Xing's egg shaomai is like a bite-size seafood omelet.
Nanjing Tourism Office
From mid-September to mid-October, restaurants around town celebrate hairy crab season. But the best place to crack those shellfish for their sweet meat and buttery paste is in their breeding ground -- Gaochun County.
Hairy crab —
From mid-September to mid-October, restaurants around town celebrate hairy crab season. But the best place to crack those shellfish for their sweet meat and buttery paste is in their breeding ground -- Gaochun County.
Nanjing Tourism Office
Tangbao are dumplings packed with pork meat and chicken broth in a paper-thin wrapper.
Tangbao —
Tangbao are dumplings packed with pork meat and chicken broth in a paper-thin wrapper.
Maggie Hiufu Wong/CNN
Salted duck is a cold dish usually served as an appetizer or as a snack with alcohol. The best salted duck has pale skin and pink meat, like this.
Salted duck —
Salted duck is a cold dish usually served as an appetizer or as a snack with alcohol. The best salted duck has pale skin and pink meat, like this.
Maggie Hiufu Wong/CNN
Nanjing's roast duck may be lesser-known than its northern counterpart Peking duck, but it's no less satisfying.
Jinling roast duck —
Nanjing's roast duck may be lesser-known than its northern counterpart Peking duck, but it's no less satisfying.
Maggie Hiufu Wong/CNN
Mandarin fish is the perfect example of Jinling cuisine (what Nanjing food is called locally). Preparation requires delicate skill and there's an emphasis on appearance.
Sweet and sour Mandarin fish —
Mandarin fish is the perfect example of Jinling cuisine (what Nanjing food is called locally). Preparation requires delicate skill and there's an emphasis on appearance.
Maggie Hiufu Wong/CNN
The halal beef dumpling is one of Nanjing's eight traditional Qinhuai treasures -- famous street food that represents the city. For the complete experience, pan-fried beef should be paired with beef soup.
Pan-fried beef dumplings —
The halal beef dumpling is one of Nanjing's eight traditional Qinhuai treasures -- famous street food that represents the city. For the complete experience, pan-fried beef should be paired with beef soup.
Maggie Hiufu Wong/CNN
The ingredients of the duck blood vermicelli soup -- duck-blood curd and offal -- may be thrown away elsewhere, but not in Nanjing. The waste-turned-treasure soup has become a favorite Nanjinger cheap eat.
Duck blood vermicelli soup —
The ingredients of the duck blood vermicelli soup -- duck-blood curd and offal -- may be thrown away elsewhere, but not in Nanjing. The waste-turned-treasure soup has become a favorite Nanjinger cheap eat.
Maggie Hiufu Wong/CNN