An elegant eastern Chinese cuisine from the Yangtze Delta, prized for delicate knife work, slow braises, and a gentle sweetness drawn from the region's wealth.
What it is
Jiangsu cuisine — Su cai — represents the elegant cooking of the Yangtze River Delta cities of Nanjing, Yangzhou, Suzhou, and Wuxi. This was the rice bowl of imperial China, where wealthy salt and silk merchants funded a refined banquet style obsessed with presentation.
How it tastes
Su cooking is famously gentle. A subtle sweetness — from rock sugar, not chili — runs through many dishes. Stocks are clear, sauces glossy, and a finished plate often arrives looking like a still life rather than a stir-fry.
Signature dishes & techniques
The “squirrel-shaped” mandarin fish, scored, fried, and dressed in a sweet-sour sauce that sizzles tableside, exemplifies the school’s theatrical knife work. Lion’s head meatballs — palm-sized pork orbs simmered with napa cabbage — and Yangzhou fried rice carry Su cuisine’s flag worldwide.
Find more cuisines by letter
Jiangsu starts with J and ends with U. Browse other cuisines along the same letter.
Cuisines that contain a letter from "Jiangsu":