My friend, the mad maths professor Zhemin, and his wife invited me to lunch in a nice hotel in Shanghai on Tuesday. As they they had mentioned Nanjing salted duck several months ago I thought it would be nice to take them one for the Spring Festival. I got it from the market for £2 but unfortunately they just chucked it in a plastic bag and not nice red packaging as is traditional. I got it home and stuffed it in another plastic bag and then in a metal tin and put it on the balcony.
Then I pretty much forgot about it until a couple of days later. I had carried it to Shanghai, on train, bus, taxi, left it in the hotel all day and then when I came to inspect it I noticed that it had lost its dryness and had sweated quite badly in its two plastic bags and metal tin.
So I went to the toilets and patted it dry with some paper hand towels, removed the bags and left it breathe a little at the back of the room where I was working. By the time it was presented it had lost much of the sweat but was still looked a little masty.
Mulan and Zhemin looked pleased, even if they weren’t, and Zhemin said he would cook it in some boiling water. I am hoping that boiling it will kill any of the bacteria that might have been reawakened during its warm period.
I haven’t heard they have been taken to hospital yet so I am hopeful I haven’t poisoned them.