Traditional cuisine of Jiangsu province, China
Jiangsu cuisine (simplified Chinese: 江苏菜; traditional Chinese: 江蘇菜; pinyin: Jiāngsū cài), also known as Su cuisine (simplified Chinese: 苏菜; traditional Chinese: 蘇菜; pinyin: Sū cài), is one of the Eight Culinary Traditions of Chinese cuisine. It is derived from the native cooking styles of Jiangsu Province. In general, Jiangsu cuisine's texture is characterized as soft, but not to the point of mushy or falling apart. In addition, Jiangsu cuisine also focuses on heating temperature.[1] For example, the meat tastes quite soft but would not separate from the bone when picked up. As the style of Jiangsu cuisine is typically practised near the sea, fish is a very common ingredient in cooking. Other characteristics include the strict selection of ingredients according to the seasons, with emphasis on the matching color and shape of each dish and using soup to improve flavor. The municipality of Shanghai was formerly a part of Jiangsu thus the great deal of similarity between the two, and Shanghai cuisine is sometimes classified as a part of Jiangsu cuisine.
Regional variations
Jiangsu cuisine is sometimes simply called Su cuisine, and one of its major styles is Huaiyang cuisine. Although Huaiyang cuisine is one of several sub-regional styles within Jiangsu cuisine, it is widely seen in Chinese culinary circles as the most popular and prestigious style of Jiangsu cuisine – to a point where it is considered to be one of the four most influential regional schools (四大菜系) that dominate the culinary heritage of China, along with Cantonese cuisine, Shandong cuisine and Sichuan cuisine.
Jiangsu cuisine actually consists of several other sub-regional styles, including:
- Nanjing style: Its dishes emphasize an even taste and matching colors, with dishes incorporating river fish/shrimp and duck.
- Suzhou style: The emphasis is on the selection of ingredients. It has a stronger taste than Nanjing style cuisine as well as a tendency to be sweeter than the other varieties of Jiangsu cuisine.
- Wuxi style: Wuxi's proximity to Lake Tai means it is notable for wide variety of freshwater produce, such as the "Three Whites" – white bait (银鱼; 銀魚; yín yú), white fish (白鱼; 白魚; bái yú) and white shrimp (白虾; 白蝦; bái xiā).
- Nantong style: The dishes emphasize a flavor of freshness on the ingredients which cover a variety of seafood, since Nantong is located at the intersection of the local Hao River, the Yangtze River and the Yellow Sea.
Wuxi-style cuisine
In Wuxi, the common cooking method is characterized by the addition of sugar and soy sauce to many savory dishes, often in the form of hongshao (红烧; 紅燒; hóngshāo; 'red braised'). This often results in a fragrant, caramelized flavor. In addition, Wuxi cuisine often has sweeter versions of dishes found in its neighboring regions.
Notable Wuxi dishes include:
| English |
Traditional Chinese |
Simplified Chinese |
Pinyin |
Notes
|
| Braised spare ribs |
紅燒排骨 |
红烧排骨 |
hóngshāo páigǔ |
Known for its melt-in-mouth texture and sweet taste.
|
| Fried gluten balls |
油面筋 |
油面筋 |
yóu miàn jīn |
Can be stuffed with meat like a meatball or stir-fried with vegetables on its own.
|
| Chinese carp soup |
鯽魚湯 |
鲫鱼汤 |
jìyú tāng |
The soup is milky white.
|
| Chinese carp with fried shallots |
蔥燒鯽魚 |
葱烧鲫鱼 |
cōng shāo jìyú |
Cooked with soy and sugar until caramelized.
|
| Whitebait omelette |
銀魚炒蛋 |
银鱼炒蛋 |
yínyú chǎo dàn |
Whitebait with omelette or scrambled eggs.
|
| Wuxi-style xiaolongbao |
無錫小籠包 |
无锡小笼包 |
Wúxī xiǎolóngbāo |
A much sweeter version as compared to Shanghai-style xiaolongbao.
|
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