The neon duck leaves little doubt what to order inside Jean Chen’s Spartan San Gabriel café. Since 2002, she’s been producing Nanjing style salted duck, a specialty that’s famous near Shanghai but near impossible to find Stateside. As a result, when homesick Chinese-Americans visit Los Angeles, they stop by Nanjing Kitchen and pick up a duck for the road. This request is so common that Jean now offers vacuum-packing in back.
Most of the time, tiny Nanjing Kitchen is a one-woman operation, with Jean taking orders, cooking dishes AND ringing up diners at the register. To maintain this delicate balance, Jean offers a limited menu, plus an array of cold plates that diners can just pluck from a double-wide, glass-fronted fridge. At lunchtime and at night, she receives help from her affable husband John, who runs a nearby insurance agency. When I spoke to John after my third straight triumph at Nanjing Kitchen, he made it clear that the restaurant is entirely his wife’s, and he’s just there to help her.
Jean and John are both from Nanjing. John used to teach language and literature at Nanjing University. Now former students who live as far away as Europe stop by to say hi and to taste his wife’s duck.
A whole salted duck costs $19, and half a quacker runs $10, but if you have a favorite piece, the fridge offers individual portions. Expect to find duck neck, head, feet, wings, thigh & leg, breast, liver, tongue and gizzard. If you prefer alternate poultry, the fridge also holds salted turkey wings and legs. The plastic-wrapped duck is supposed to be served cold. Just grab a Styrofoam plate from the fridge and chow down.
Nanjing style duck breast ($3.35) was rimmed with firm but fatty white duck skin, which was easily peeled from the tender meat. Crisp-skinned Peking duck this was not, but Nanjing duck held its own charms. Jean asked if we wanted soy sauce and vinegar, but it was already plenty delicious with just duck and salt.
Another fridge find were these Nanjing style pork meatballs ($3.85). The meatballs were dense but luscious, kept moist from its soy sauce bath. Jean heated them for a couple minutes before serving, which brought out the flavor.
It was a cool night, but we found comfort in two of Jean’s hot noodle dishes. Giant Pork and Shepherd’s Purse Wontons ($4.50) featured a dozen ethereal pork and vegetable wontons floating in a peppery broth with diced scallions and thin strips of omelet.
Jing Ling Style Pork Shank Noodles ($4.90) featured a bowl of spaghetti-like noodles topped with sheets of luscious pork shank, bok choy, mushrooms and thin-shaved carrots, all poured with soy sauce.
Cold noodles with shredded vegetables or sesame sauce are available in warmer months, debuting in late April or early May.
Jean closes Nanjing Kitchen for three weeks every January so she and John can return to Nanjing and visit her parents. Jean’s father is 94 and her mother is 89. I asked John if salted duck is the key to long life. He laughed and said, “Somebody should do a study.” If there’s ever a study, sign me up as a test subject.
Hours:
Wednesday-Monday: 11 AM – 9 PM
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