Qinlan Spiced Braised Goose 秦栏卤鹅

Qinlan Spiced Braised Goose (秦栏卤鹅) is a whole goose prepared in aged brine, a speciality of Qinlan (秦栏镇), a town in Tianchang (天长) under Chuzhou (滁州), Anhui. A 2021 Jinling Evening News (金陵晚报) feature carried by Xinhua credits its invention to Liu Jinzhong (刘金忠), a folk cook of the late Qing dynasty, and gives it about a hundred years of history. It is listed as intangible cultural heritage at Chuzhou city level.

How it is made

The goose is not opened along the belly. After plucking, a small hole is cut near the tail, the innards are drawn out through it, and the bird is washed and put into the brine. The brine is what matters most, and the older it is the better. A large pot is set to steam and the brine is heated; the hot brine is then poured over the goose, and once the first pouring is done it is poured over a second time.

Flavour and texture

The meat is tender and fragrant, rich without being greasy, and very soft yet not falling apart. A local saying reported in the same feature runs 'travel a thousand li to Tianchang to taste the braised goose' (千里到天长，为品卤鹅香). CCTV describes it as a food that suits both old and young.

Where it comes from

A 2012 edition of CCTV-7's Daily Farm Economics (每日农经) on Chuzhou called Qinlan braised goose a well-known speciality of the Qinlan area and reported that braised-goose production had driven local white-goose rearing and given farmers a steady market.