Suzhou Cuisine
China boasts four great cuisines, namely, Jiangsu Cuisine, Shandong cuisine, Cantonese cuisine and Sichuan cuisine, each having divergent tastes. Generally, dishes in east are sour, west spicy, south sweet, and north salty. And Suzhou dishes fall into the sweet. After thousands years’ development, Suzhou food have been classified into twelve types, such as Suzhou cake, Suzhou snack, Suzhou pastry, Suzhou candy, Suzhou sweetmeat, Suzhou spiced dishes and so on. Travellers who have been the city for the first time must remember to try the world-famous snacks like sugar pine nut, plum pudding. And do not forget the noodle either. Now that they can be found everywhere, it is really convenient for travellers to discover them.
Quick-fried Eel, Suzhou Style (苏式爆蟮)
Quick-fried eels are the most difficult to make for many chefs, and those of Suzhou style are even more difficult. But, it is the most delicious and the most unforgettable dish for travellers when they first visit this loveable city. It takes time and patience to make the dish; otherwise, it would be as ordinary as that in any other places.
Sweetmeat, Suzhou style (苏式蜜饯)
Sweetmeats, Suzhou style can date back to the Three Kingdoms (220-280) and had its heyday in Qing Dynasty (1636-1911). The most famous one is "Zhang Fengxiang" brand, which had always been popular in the court. Now, there are 160 varieties in total.
Shrimps with Biluochun Tea (碧螺虾仁)
Chefs in Suzhou city are fond of making dishes with shrimps and Biluochun tea which is the specialty of the east and west hills of Dongting Lake. While shrimps cooked with the tea taste refreshing, it would be pleasant to the eyes if the dish is decorated with the green tea!
The main food streets include, Taijian Long (太监弄), Shiquan Street (十全街), Xushi Street (学士街), Ligong Di (李公堤), and Phoenix Street (凤凰街).
