- Names: Jiangsu food, Su cuisine
- Location: Jiangsu Province
- Distinctives: seafood; richly aromatic with fine presentation
Jiangsu cuisine is usually light in flavour. The food here is based on a strict selection of seasonal ingredients and aesthetic harmony. Jiangsu is known for utilizing stewing, braising and simmering, and for its emphasis on broths. Jiangsu cuisine is also characterized by fine slicing practices.
Jiangsu cuisine is the culmination of strict ingredient control, exquisite workmanship and elegance. Ingredients are fresh and are often carefully selected. For example, tea leaves, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, pears, and dates must be exceptional if considered for cooking. Delicate carving techniques along with stewing, braising, and stir-frying will leave the food in Jiangsu impressing.
Seasonings Used
The cooking here is all about bringing out the distinct natural flavours of the raw ingredients used in dishes. Salt, sugar and seasonings like chili powder are seldom used. Meals here are aromatic, a result of the wide diversity of agricultural products and choosy vegetables used in preparation. Lotus, chestnuts, and bamboo shoots are abundant in this watery province, and these fresh ingredients are combined with vinasse and rice wine for a lighter taste.
Special Cooking Techniques
Jiangsu chefs tend to focus on controlled heating and slicing practices. Food is frequently carved into ridiculously thin slices (think threading of a needle thin). Jiangsu chefs are also known for exceptional simmering, braising, and stewing skills.
Jiangsu Cuisine: Staple Dishes
Nanjing Salted Duck. The duck is first marinated with fried salt, and is subsequently boiled in a brine of ginger and scallion.
Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish. The unique shape of the mandarin fish is a result of special cutting and cooking method. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, the fish is also topped with an amazing sweet and sour sauce.
Braised Meat Balls in Brown Sauce. Also known as ‘lion’s head meat balls’, this typical Jiangsu dish is a mixture of fried (and braised) meat and glutinous mushrooms.
Beggar’s Chicken. A traditional dish in Changshu, Jiangsu, the dish is legendary invented by a beggar who wrapped a whole chicken with mud (and then cooked it)… In more modern times, the chicken is often wrapped with lotus leaves and is left to roast. The result? Darn tasty chicken.
Yangzhou Fried Rice. Popular throughout China, this is a yummy combination of eggs, carrots, green onion, corn, shrimps and, of course, rice. Seasoned with a little soy sauce and salt, this dish is a real pleaser.
