Suzhou Food: Why SO Sweet?! 🥹🥹🥹 Send Savory Snacks, STAT!
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Our food in Shanghai also tends to be sweet, but last time I was in Xishan, I ate at a local farmhouse restaurant, and holy cow, their dishes were even sweeter than ours!
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It's like, the first bite is amazing, so savory and fresh! But then it starts to feel a bit too rich if you have more.
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Apart from the braised dishes, other things aren't that sweet, are they?
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They're sweet too! They even add sugar to vegetable dishes.
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You should try things in moderation according to your own taste and don't be stubborn about it; forcing yourself to eat something you're not used to can be quite emotionally draining. Also, while locals do add sugar to dishes, it's usually just a little to enhance the flavor, so most everyday food isn't overwhelmingly sweet. It's mostly the dishes well-known to tourists that are very sweet. For instance, Squirrel-shaped Mandarin Fish is a grand dish typically for festivals, but few restaurants make it well, and it's particularly sweet. Suzhou-style noodles are a major specialty, and their hallmark is a sweet and savory broth. Non-sweet dishes are usually part of everyday home cooking, which is why we locals don't often eat at Suzhou cuisine restaurants – we can make those dishes at home. If you're keen on trying, go to a farmhouse restaurant. For a regular restaurant, I like Xiangxuehai, though I can't guarantee all their dishes are Suzhou-style, I can say they're delicious. If you're unsure what to order, ask the waiter about their current seasonal dishes.
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Anyway, when my friends and I go out, we generally don't choose Suzhou cuisine restaurants; I'm not sure how it is for others. At most, we might go out to buy snacks like zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings), qingtuan (sweet green rice balls), tofu pudding, meihua gao (plum blossom cake), haitang gao (crabapple cake), or dongniangjiu (winter rice wine). On a side note, for many of those 'sweet vs. savory debate' items, people in our area often enjoy both versions. If you're curious, you can search for them (like tangyuan, zongzi, qingtuan, tofu pudding, spring rolls, soy milk…).
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I actually think Suzhou isn't too bad. Last time I was in Nanjing, I had xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) that were completely sweet!
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I actually prefer Nanjing's version.
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Wuxi: 'Excuse me? You think that's sweet?'
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Then just buy a ticket and hurry back home!