Osmanthus-Stewed Lotus Root Osmanthus-Stewed Lotus Root is a classic autumn delicacy in Suzhou. Suzhou’s candied lotus root has been famous throughout China since the Tang Dynasty. By using locally sourced glutinous rice and the fragrant osmanthus blossoms that bloom in abundance during autumn, Suzhou locals have created this sweet, tender, crispy, and aromatic dessert. The preparation involves taking the middle section of the lotus root, stuffing it with glutinous rice…
The noodles at Suzhou’s Zhuhongxing are an art form. When Suzhou natives eat noodles elsewhere, they often complain, “It’s just wheat-stick noodles in soy sauce broth.” This comes down to regional taste preferences. Suzhou-style noodles place great emphasis on the broth, and Zhuhongxing is no exception. The broth is prepared daily just as carefully as a fine restaurant would make its stock—there's no cutting corners. Making the broth involves using chicken, pork, bones, and eel bones as the base…
There is a famous Chinese saying: "The stone of other mountains can be used to polish jade," which reveals the true essence of jade carving. In fact, exquisitely crafted jade artifacts are not carved, but rather ground and polished using abrasive materials—such as corundum, quartz, and garnet—that are harder than jade, together with water, to shape the stone into the desired form. So...
Located in the alley north of the post office, opposite the south side of Daoqian Street Cultural Market, these zongzi are made in the morning, then boiled for seven hours, and sold starting at 3 PM every day—selling out within an hour. The shop doesn’t even have a sign; if it weren’t for the “Zhaoji Zongzi” written on the awning, you’d never find this spot serving the best zongzi in Suzhou. Every year during the Dragon Boat Festival…
Saucy Meat is said to have been available in the market for over 200 years. Originally called "wine-braised saucy meat," it used red rouge as the coloring agent. Later, red rice was used for coloring, and it came to be known as Saucy Meat. Among the most famous shops selling Suzhou-style Saucy Meat is the Lu Gaoshai Delicatessen. This shop is known for its strict selection of ingredients, meticulous preparation of seasonings, and refined cooking process, making it truly unique. The process involves first selecting fresh pork ribs with an appropriate fat-to-lean ratio, deboning them, removing the breast meat, and cutting them into cubes. Then, they are put into a pot with water and red rice to boil together—this step is called “reddening in water,” and usually takes about an hour to achieve a bright red color. After that, the meat is taken out, rinsed clean with water, and placed in another empty pot. At the bottom and sides of this pot, bamboo mats are placed, and on top of the mats, a layer of pig’s head meat is laid (the ratio is one pig’s head per 10 jin of pork ribs). Around the edges, pig tongues and spareribs are also placed. Once seasonings such as cinnamon, fennel, ginger, scallions, and salt are added, the “reddened” meat is placed in the middle of the pot. Zhangjiajie Saucy Meat
Ingredients Main ingredients: Pork chop (big plate) Cabbage Ramen noodles Broth Seasonings: 2 tbsp cooking wine 2 tbsp light soy sauce 3 tbsp dark soy sauce 2 tbsp sugar 4 tbsp rice vinegar 2 tbsp oyster sauce Cornstarch Ginger-garlic-chili powder …
Recommended Snack: Glutinous Rice Tangyuan Restaurant: Huang Tianyuan Cake & Pastry (Zhuhui Road Branch), Zhuhui Road, Canglang District Reason for Recommendation: A long-established local brand of Suzhou pastries, their dim sum is quite distinctive and has an authentic Suzhou flavor. Personality Description: The shop’s décor looks a bit old-fashioned, but that doesn’t stop loyal local customers from coming. Every morning and weekend, it’s the busiest time. Buying some cakes, having noodles, wontons, or tangyuan is always a great choice. (Shop photo)
Plum Blossom Cake and Crabapple Cake are probably the two most beautifully shaped snacks in Suzhou. Not having seen their "charming appearances" online beforehand only added to my anticipation for these delicately named treats. The most authentic Plum Blossom Cake can be found on Shantang Street. Walking along the uneven stone-paved road, a gently curving stone arch bridge quietly spans the small…
Shop name: Xiangxin Food Stall, also known as Xiangxin Chicken Feet Stall. Average cost per person: ¥10 — delicious and affordable. Address: Opposite Tongguanfang on Jinfan Road, Canglang District. It’s just a “small” shop, but business is “booming.” The chicken feet are “fragrant, soft, and tender,” with “thick layers of fat” — no wonder it gets “rave reviews.” The red bean balls are “soft, glutinous, and sweet…”
The signature dish of Luchangxing Noodle House is making noodles, and indeed, they excel at cooking them. The fine dragon beard noodles are ready in just a couple of minutes in the boiling pot. Using long chopsticks, they’re scooped into the bowl, topped with two large pieces of fish, and then ladled with broth. That’s all there is to it. The fish in the crispy fish noodles tastes similar to smoked fish—it’s made from large fish, cooked until crisp and tender, with bones that are easy to remove. As for the noodles, they are...
A “must-visit” when exploring Pi Shi Street, located “right at the north gate of the Flower and Bird Market.” It serves “very authentic” Suzhou-style sweets—the sweet porridge is “cooked with glutinous rice,” topped with a “thick and rich” red bean paste, mixed with osmanthus flowers, and is “sweet yet not greasy”; the red bean and small glutinous rice balls are also “nostalgic and comforting,” still tasting “just like childhood.” The vendor is…
Chinese Name: 凤穿牡丹 Introduction “Phoenix Penetrating Peony” is an ancient and famous dish from the Suzhou region. It is likely that Suzhou chefs were inspired by the dish “Ivory Chicken Strips.” Legend has it that “Ivory Chicken Strips” originated in the late Sui Dynasty. Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty once took a boat trip up the Grand Canal...
Tongdexing claims to serve "premium Aozao noodles." It’s said the owner thought, “Why should Japanese noodles sell for twenty or thirty yuan while Suzhou noodles go for just a few?” So he renovated his noodle shop into a grand restaurant and truly managed to charge premium prices for Suzhou noodles. Local Suzhou folks are somewhat dismissive, saying only someone out of their mind would pay twenty yuan for a bowl of noodles. But when you…
Red sticky rice sweet dish Red glutinous rice has long been a premium red rice variety produced in Changshu. Due to its high nutritional value and health benefits, it was once served as an exclusive “imperial rice” tribute to the royal court. The locals of Changshu use it to make sweet winter-brewed wine and desserts, among other treats. The red sticky rice sweet dish, also known as stir-fried red sticky rice, is a signature specialty created by the renowned Wangsi Restaurant in Changshu. This deep purplish-red sweet dish is rich, moist, and full of nutrients, often served as a delicacy at banquets. Its preparation method is quite unique—it uses Changshu’s special duck blood glutinous rice along with top-grade regular glutinous rice. The blood glutinous rice is soaked beforehand, then steamed together with white glutinous rice in a 3:7 ratio, followed by mixing with sugar and oil and stir-frying. It is finished with a sprinkle of osmanthus blossoms, resulting in a dish that’s perfect in color, aroma, and taste.
Water Shield Soup from Taihu Lake has long been as renowned as perch. The Book of Jin records that Zhang Han, a Western Jin Dynasty literatus, was serving as an official in the north. Over time, he was overcome with nostalgia for his hometown’s water shield and perch soup, prompting him to resign and return to his southern homeland. This “longing for water shield and perch” has since become a metaphor for homesickness. During the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, residents along Taihu Lake had already…
Turtle has long been regarded as a tonic food, with its shell used in traditional medicine. In the Wu region, there has long been a custom of eating “stewed turtle” to nourish the body. The Qing Dynasty’s Yuan Mei, in his "Suiyuan Shidan" (Recipes from the Sui Garden), also listed dishes such as “turtle simmered in broth” and “whole-shell turtle.” This dish uses live turtles weighing around 750 grams. After slaughtering, the internal organs are removed (if there are eggs, they are set aside), and the claws, snout, and...
Chicken and Oil Vegetable Hearts is also one of the ten traditional famous dishes of Shijia Restaurant. Creating a renowned dish from green vegetables is a notable feature of Suzhou cuisine. Among the various types of greens in Suzhou, there is a variety called "small vegetable," which has short stems and lush leaves. The vegetable hearts are selected, trimmed at the root into an olive shape, with the cross-section of the cabbage split open and the leaf tips cut flat, resulting in uniformly sized vegetable hearts. The key to cooking lies in maintaining the vibrant green color of the vegetable hearts…
Cuisine: Jiangsu cuisine Flavor: Salty and savory Price: 10–40 RMB Ingredients: 650g carp, 10g sesame oil, 75g lard (refined), 15g scallion, 5g ginger, 5g salt, 20g white soy sauce, 20g soy sauce, 10g cooking wine, 20g white sugar, 5g MSG. Preparation method: 1. Slice the fish…
Taihu water shield is one of the renowned specialties of Suzhou. As early as the Song Dynasty, it was listed as a tribute product. Historical records state that during the Qing Dynasty, when Emperor Kangxi toured Suzhou, a local man named Zhang Zhihong presented him with four jars of water shield and a “Water Shield Poem,” which greatly delighted the emperor. In return, Zhang was appointed to an official post—a move that drew ridicule, earning him the nickname “the Water Shield Official.” This illustrates just how captivating water shield is. “Its leaves are green as lotus, its stems purple as official ribbons, its taste smooth as cream, and its aroma purer than orchid fragrance.” This ancient poem offers a fitting description and praise of the vegetable’s color, fragrance, taste, shape, and its uniquely tender texture.
Water bamboo, also known as wild rice stem, zizania, or bamboo shoot-like vegetable, is a perennial aquatic plant belonging to the grass family. The edible part is its fleshy stem, also referred to as bamboo meat. Water bamboo is tender and white, with a soft, glutinous texture and a delicious, delightful flavor. It tastes fresh and refined without any greasy heaviness. Therefore, Suzhou water bamboo is hailed as the “precious aquatic vegetable” and was renowned across China even before the Tang Dynasty...