Chinese · regional cuisine
Jiangsu and Huaiyang (Su)
The refined cooking of the lower Yangtze around Yangzhou, Huai'an, Suzhou and Nanjing: subtle, slightly sweet, built on stocks, braising and exceptionally fine knife work.
Flavour character: Gentle and rounded: light soy, rice wine and sugar; fresh, mild, slightly sweet; prized for the natural taste of ingredients and for soft, melting textures from long braising.
History
Yangzhou grew rich on the Grand Canal salt trade, and its salt merchants supported an elaborate dining culture from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Huaiyang cooking (from Huai'an and Yangzhou) is the best-known branch and is often cited as the style chosen for the 1949 founding banquet of the People's Republic. Yangzhou fried rice carries the city's name, though the version known worldwide spread largely through Cantonese restaurants.
Commonly told; not firmly documented
Geography and influences
The flat, watery Yangtze delta and Grand Canal region: rice, freshwater fish, crab, shrimp, lotus root, bamboo shoots and many lakes.
- Grand Canal trade and salt-merchant patronage
- Shanghai and Zhejiang neighbours (Jiangnan cooking)
- Buddhist vegetarian traditions
Regional variations
- Huaiyang (Yangzhou, Huai'an)
- The most famous branch: knife work, braised meatballs, banquet dishes.
- Suzhou and Wuxi
- Noticeably sweeter, with sweet-sour fish and sweet spare ribs.
- Nanjing (Jinling)
- Known for salted and pressed duck.
- Shanghai (Benbang)
- A neighbouring style often grouped with Jiangnan cooking: rich red-braised dishes and soup dumplings.
Festive and seasonal food
- Hairy crab season in autumn
- Eight-treasure rice at Lunar New Year
- Qingtuan green rice balls at Qingming (Jiangnan)
Signature dishes
Not on the site yet: Lion's head meatballs (shizitou), Wensi tofu soup (hair-fine tofu threads), Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish (Suzhou), Nanjing salted duck, Crab-roe soup dumplings
Sichuan · 50 min · 224 kcal
