Delicacies in Suzhou

Suzhou is asrefined and beautiful as local food is tasty and flavorful.This blessing wasn't lost on the  locals, who are known to be serious foodies. Sweet snacks,Suzhou cuisine,coffee and tea, and international food are only some of the culinary highlights of thiscity. A wise man once said: to everything there is a season, and a time for every snack in Suzhou!

Suzhou Noodles

Noodles and tea is the breakfast of choice for many locals.Suzhounese are proud of their noodles,which they make with grea care attention,downto the most minutedetail.Have a taste of traditional Suzhou noodles served in a savory soup andwih a garnish of meator vegetables dish.

The classic dish to go with noodles:braised meat,fried fish,greens

Suzhou  soup  noodles  are  tasty  enough on their own,but without  the garnish,they're like an unfinished masterpiece.Without  delicious garnish on your noodles, you won’t have truly experienced  Suzhou  food!Braised  meat,fried fish,greens are absolute classics!

Fengzhen Town Pork Noodles 

In the summer,the people of Suzhou are extremely fond of Fengzhen Town Pork Noodles.The clear,appetizing soup is made from eel and pork bones,with a touch of rice  alcohol.Noodles are then poured into a bowl, and a slice of pork meat,with just the right  balance of fat and lean meat, is placed ontop Even on a hot summer day,not a living soul could resist this bowl of Fengzhen Town Pork Noodles with the juicy and fragrant pork.

Crab Oil Noodles

By frying the best part ofthe crab together, we'll get the delicious crab oil,which locals  call Tuhuang oil.These are the alpha and  omega of all noodles.Look out!They're available only during the fall season.

Three Shrimps Noodles

The name maybe misleading.You thought you were about to order noodles with threetypes of  shrimps? Wrong! These soup noodles owe their names to the three parts o the shrimp that make up the broth of thesoup:the meat,the eggs and the head.In early summer, during mating season, the females produce a large amount of eggs.That is the best time we catch them.The fresh shrimps are then cut into 3 parts, which are cooked separately into a broth.Available only from June to August, don't mis out!

Gaotuan

Gaotuan is an exquisite typical dessert made of glutinous-rice and filled with seasonal stuffing.If you have a sweet tooth,have a try of this Suzhou style Gaotuan!

Qingtuan

As a tradition,Suzhounese savour Qingtuan, green dumplings made with glutinous rice and Chinese  Mugwort,around  Tomb-sweeping day.It can be flled with sweet red bean paste rose or black sesame.When still hot out of the pan,they let out a swet grassy smell and their chewy  texture  complements  neatly  their refreshing taste.

Meat mooncake

Around the Mid-autumn Festival,you'll  often see queues of people waiting for their  turn to buy freshly made meat mooncakes. These deliciously crispy cakes are stuffed  with juicy meat filing. Soft and erispy  fresh and  savory,these  mooncakes taste like heaven!

Meat Dumpling

Similar to Shanghai  dumplings, these Suzhou meat dumplings  sell  like hot cake in  the beginning of the summer and are taken offthe market in September. Best consumed freshly made and cooked, these deliciousdumplings are filled with meatjuice, bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms, dried day lily, and shelled shrimp.

Osmanthus Cake

The osmanthus flower is the emblem of Suzhou, but it is also the main ingredient to a much-sought-fordessert. In  the  fall, when  osmanthus  flowers  blossom, the  whole city is  perfumed with their sweet fragrance. Osmanthus cakes are made with natural and simple ingredients and are best enjoyed with tea.

Highly  seasonal,the  regional  cuisine  stresses  the  importance of  ingredients  as much  ascooking  mehods. The  typical  Suzhou  dish  will  retain  the  natural  flavors of  the  ingredients while  complementing  them  subtly  with  seasoning. Don't  be surprised if  you see your dinner table turn into a procession of dishes of all colors and shapes.

Biluochun Tea and Shrimps

Bilunchun Tea and shrimpsare cooked together. The two ingredients area mach  made in heaven. You can't leave this place until you've tried this dish!

Chinese Hairy Crab

In the fall, you will find plenty of such crabs at the local aquatic product market. Thick and flavorful, their meat is well accompanied by champagne or white wine, but it tastes even  better with local rice wine Huangjiu.

Whitebait and Water Shield Soup

This soup is a typical Suzhou dish that fully brings out the freshness of the water shield, eggs and the taste of the whitebait.
Source: Suzhou Municipal People's Government

Mutton

In the fall and winter seasons,mutton is the  most sought-after meat in Suzhou. Cangshu mutton,a dish of more than 400 years of  history, is a nutritious meal that many locals enjoy. The  mutton can be cooked and prepared in different ways, either braised or served cold, and itcan be mixed with Chinese cabbage and vermicelli in a pot. Each place  has its own recipe of choice: white cuts in Dongshan, braised inTaoyuan or even served with soup noodles in Taicang and Changshu.

Jiangfang

In the winter, locals like nothing better than Jiangfang, literally paste square pork meat, to help them bear the cold weather. These squares are made of pork-belly which is in turn roasted, cooked, stewed and braised. The result is these delicious-looking jellied squares, which melt in your mouth with tantalizing aroma.

Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish

This is a classic of Suzhoucuisine. Preparedby carving amandarin fish into asquirrel shape batter before dousing it in sweet and sour sauce, the squirrel fish never disappoints!

Source: Suzhou Municipal People's Government