Jiangnan
江南菜
The refined, faintly sweet cooking of the Yangtze delta — knife work, clear broths and freshwater everything.
Photo: SS · CC BY-SA 4.0 · resized
Jiangnan — the region south of the Yangtze, taking in Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou and Shanghai — has been China's wealthiest area for a thousand years, and its cooking shows it. This is scholar-official food: precise knife work, long slow braises, an emphasis on presentation, and a distinct sweetness that surprises visitors expecting savoury. Freshwater fish, river shrimp, lotus root, bamboo shoots and hairy crab define the larder, and the seasons are followed with an almost obsessive precision.
06Dishes to seek out
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Xiaolongbao 小笼包
Soup dumplings — jellied stock folded into the filling, which melts when steamed. Bite a small hole, drink, then eat. Jia Jia Tang Bao in Shanghai for the cheap perfect version.
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Dongpo pork 东坡肉
Belly pork braised in Shaoxing wine and soy for hours until it collapses. Named for the poet who supposedly invented it while exiled to Hangzhou.
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Squirrel mandarin fish 松鼠桂鱼
Scored into a pinecone pattern, deep-fried until it opens, and sauced sweet-sour at the table. Suzhou's showpiece.
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Hairy crab 大闸蟹
From Yangcheng Lake, October and November only, steamed and eaten with ginger vinegar. The roe is the point and the price is startling.
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Shengjianbao 生煎包
Pan-fried pork buns with a crisp base and a soup interior, scattered with sesame and scallion. Shanghai's best breakfast.
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Yangzhou fried rice 扬州炒饭
The original, and nothing like the takeaway version — day-old rice, egg, shrimp, char siu, and each grain separate.