Explore

Where it comes from

Huaiyang takes its name from Huai'an and Yangzhou, cities on the Grand Canal where salt merchants grew rich under the Ming and Qing and spent it on the table. Emperors touring the south, Qianlong above all, are said to have eaten here, and the cooking became a byword for refinement.

It's often counted among China's great regional cuisines, and in 1949 it's said to have supplied much of the menu for the first state banquet of the People's Republic. Its hallmarks are knife work, slow braising and stewing, and a light hand with seasoning — a little sugar, a little vinegar, rarely any heat.

Where in it

1. YangzhouThe old salt merchants' city on the Grand Canal, known for its banquet cooking, its morning teahouses — and a fried rice now cooked the world over.Lion's head meatballsYangzhou fried riceDazhu gansi
2. Huai'anThe other half of the name, on the Huai river and the canal: eel dishes above all, and a claim to the shredded tofu and the lion's head that Yangzhou also makes.
3. NanjingThe provincial capital, sometimes nicknamed the duck capital: salted duck, duck blood soup and duck in nearly every other form.Nanjing salted duck
4. SuzhouA city of canals and gardens whose cooking runs sweeter and prettier, with river fish cut to look like something else.Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish
5. WuxiOn Lake Tai, with the sweetest cooking in the province: dark, glossy spare ribs, and soup dumplings sweeter than most.Wuxi spare ribs

How it cooks

Knife work

Cutting so fine and even that it's the point of the dish: tofu shaved into threads, fish scored to open like a flower.

Stewing and braising

Long, gentle cooking in a covered pot — dùn and mèn — until meat is soft enough to cut with a spoon.

Clear stock

Stocks of chicken, pork and ham, simmered and clarified, so a soup or sauce tastes rich but looks light.

Sweet and sour, lightly

A little sugar and Zhenjiang vinegar to round a dish, especially around Suzhou and Wuxi, where cooking runs sweeter.

Always in the kitchen