Methods and characteristics of traditional hand-made food

It is made of mandarin fish (also known as mandarin fish and stone mandarin fish). After being captured alive, remove the spine and carve the fish into diamond-shaped knife marks as deep as skin. After dipping in dry starch, it is fried in cooked lard for the second time, which is golden yellow. The meat turned into hair, the head was raised, and the fish tail was slightly tilted, like a squirrel. When the marinade is poured on the mandarin fish while it is hot, it will emit. Because of its excellent color, fragrance, taste and shape, it can be called one of the leading characters in Suzhou Steel's famous dishes.

It is said that sweet and sour mandarin fish evolved from squirrel carp. At the beginning, Emperor Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River and wandered to Songhe Tower. In order to entertain the emperor, he insisted on eating fish. The chef used his quick wits to cook carp for Marshal Zhao Gong. Later, carp was replaced by mandarin fish with less bone and lean meat, and sweet and sour mandarin fish became a famous banquet dish. Suzhou famous chefs strive for perfection in cooking. There are fifteen or sixteen kinds of condiments and condiments, including shrimp, diced cooked bamboo shoots, diced mushrooms, green peas, pork soup, wine, vinegar, salt, sugar, lard, sesame oil, onion, garlic cloves, dry starch and wet starch. The sweet and sour mandarin fish, which was praised as the "chief dish" of Song Crane Tower by Japanese friends who filmed "Three Flavors of China", was listed as one of Jiangsu's performance dishes at the national technical performance appraisal meeting of culinary masters in 10.

There are "peach blossoms and flowing water, and mandarin fish are fat" in Tang poetry, so March and April are the best time to taste sweet and sour mandarin fish every year.

Snail shrimp

It is cooked with live river shrimp from Taihu Lake basin and Biluochun, a famous tea from Dongting East and Xishan, and has strong local characteristics in Suzhou. Shrimp, especially white shrimp in Dongshan area, is squeezed out by live shrimp, and made of refined salt, egg white and dried starch. When the cooked pig oil pan is boiled to 50% heat, slide the shrimps to milky white, drain the water with a colander, and then fry them again with strong fire. At this time, add the tea leaves and monosodium glutamate soaked in 5g Biluochun tea in advance. Do not stir fry. Just turn it over a few times and put the shrimp out of the pot. At the same time, it is decorated with soaked tea leaves, green and white, and the shape is delicious and fresh.

Water shield skin sugar tablets

Taking Taihu Lake's special water shield (also known as Pucai and Shuikui) and pond bream (commonly known as pond bream, protozoan fish and tiger shark) as raw materials, it is a soup in Subang's famous dishes.

Water shield, which grows in Taihu Lake, has a long history and uses its tender leaves that are not exposed to the water as soup. There is "fish soup" in the food book. Praise "water shield soup": "The glass bowl is filled with jasper light, with mixed flavors and fragrant fragrance." Siniperca chuatsi likes to live in the crevices or roots of lakes and beaches, feeding on small fish and shrimps, with a round head and tender meat. Tang slices, that is, after removing the spine and head of mandarin fish, are made into clean fish slices. Add Shao wine, clear salt and chopped green onion, mix well, and then put it into the soup made of lard and broth. Add Shaoxing wine, shredded ham and monosodium glutamate, then pour it into the water shield bowl and pour it with chicken oil, which becomes a delicious soup with endless aftertaste.

Suzhou chuandian

Suzhou boat cuisine belongs to the dim sum part of Suzhou boat cuisine. Suzhou boat dishes have a long history and have nothing to do with Suzhou Watertown. Suzhou has the reputation of Venice in the East. Historically, transportation mainly relied on ships. At that time, there were more than ten kinds of junk boats, canoes, clippers, cruise ships, juggling boats and sailing against the current, while junk boats, canoes and cruise ships all had "kitchens".

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, local businessmen often held banquets on cruise ships, inviting "Wu businessmen" to discuss business, which made the dishes on board more and more abundant. The banquet at the noon gate is mainly cold dishes, with tables and wine, followed by cooking, with exquisite snacks in the middle and big dishes at last. Big dishes often end with fish, which shows that there are more leftovers. The chef knows the psychology of eating guests while eating. Dim sum is just an ornament, small and exquisite, both ornamental and delicious.

At present, all famous restaurants are innovating traditional boat dishes and have trained many masters in making boat dishes. Boat dishes have become an indispensable part of the banquet. Mainly flowers, plants, insects, birds and animals, such as: white geese, stuffed with flour and jujube paste; White rabbit, made of flour and fine sweet bean paste; Peaches are made of flour, sweet flour paste, cocoa powder, etc. Loquat is made of flour, jujube paste, sweet noodle sauce, cocoa powder and sesame seeds. When making, the glutinous rice flour and mosaic flour are kneaded into dough, then kneaded into shapes, added with food pigments, then steamed in a steamer and coated with sesame oil when coming out.

Others include: barbed eel tube, white juice, round dish, oil eel paste lung soup, salted shrimp, cherry meat, watermelon chicken, beggar chicken, oil chicken, fine exposed tendons, the first dish in the world, chicken oil, cabbage heart, mother oil, braised duck with whole duck, duck soup and water shield soup.

Famous snacks and famous snack bar

Zhuhongxing noodles

Zhu Hongxing's Suzhou noodles are very learned. Suzhou people often complain after eating noodles in other places: they eat noodles with miso soup. This is the difference in regional tastes. Suzhou noodles pay attention to soup, so does Zhu Hongxing. Hanging soup every day is like making soup in a restaurant, and it is never vague. To hang soup, chicken, pork, bones and eel bones should be used as raw materials, soaked in water, and then hung out clear soup. Each has its own technology, and this is the secret recipe. At this point, everyone will understand the meaning of "noodle soup" in Lu's Gourmet.

With good soup, you should also pay attention to the thickness of noodles. Zhu Hongxing's dough is different from others. It is made of refined flour, called Erbayou. Pour in the pot, add cold water, and then pour out. Take it out and shape it with grasping pliers, pat it twice in the air, roll the noodles tightly like a wooden comb, put it into the soup, sprinkle some onions and garlic, and it is a bowl of Yangchun noodles that can absorb the soup and has a hard mouth.

People who make noodles are particular, and people who eat noodles are unambiguous. Pick noodles first, then sip soup to eat noodles. Fine noodles suck soup, and the taste is inside. And it must be eaten in three to five minutes. This is the original flavor. If you don't eat it for a long time, the noodles will be rotten and the taste will be different if you absorb too much soup. You will learn this knowledge about eating noodles next time, right?

The design and color of noodles are not simple. In the past, Suzhou people paid great attention to the seasons when eating, and Zhu Hongxing's noodles had four distinct seasons. Three shrimp noodles, shrimp noodles and fried noodles in spring; In summer, meat noodles and vegetable steamed bread in Fengzhen; Shrimp and crab noodles in autumn, steamed bread with crab powder and hoofed flower noodles in winter are all delicious and even better. Nowadays, Zhu Hongxing has a complete skin color regardless of seasons, and has launched various seasonal new products in time to meet the tastes of different guests.

One more thing, don't forget. When you take the noodles, the noodle maker asks you if you want to avoid being green, and don't be at a loss, which means you don't want flowers like onion, garlic and coriander. Most of the foreign guests that the clerk meets now will not make you feel so troubled and embarrassed again.

Lvyang wonton store

Northerners like to eat jiaozi, while southerners like to eat wonton. Jiaozi just dipped in vinegar, one bite at a time. Wonton should have a soup bowl and complete seasonings, and you can only eat half a mouthful.

Suzhou's Populus davidiana chicken soup with crab powder wonton, thick skin and big stuffing, clear soup, and a few thin dried tofu, is very attractive. The soup is clear as water, without a trace of flour turbidity, but it is very fresh. The stuffing is soft and has a sauce flavor, which combines the styles of the north and the south.

Luyang also has a delicious food worth recommending-a small cage of semi-tight fermented crab powder. Semi-tight fermentation means slight fermentation, which is between dough and hard flour. It is tepid and natural, very tough, which not only keeps the taste, but also has a certain hardness, so the soup is not easy to flow out. When the mouth is gently sucked, the freshness of the crab, combined with the thickness of soy sauce and the sweetness of sugar, passes through the teeth and tongue, which is the so-called lip and tooth fragrance.

Luchangxing noodles

Lu Changxing is a rising star in Suzhou noodle restaurant industry. 1992, Lu and his son, inspired by foreign fast food, applied for registration of the trademark "Lu Changxing", and Lu Changxing became the first trademark of Suzhou catering industry. 1998, in the "Suzhou Ten Bowls of Noodles" selected by Suzhou Federation of Industry and Commerce, Suzhou TV Station and other units and Suzhou citizens, Lu Changxing's fried fish noodles and mushroom noodles with scallion oil both ranked among them, becoming the only noodle restaurant with two varieties. Lu Changxing's face is well known, not only the locals, but also many tourists who go to the Soviet Union are full of praise for it. Like Zhu Hongxing, Lu Changxing also opened chain stores such as Bifengfang Store, Wuzhong Road Store, Qinmen Store, Niujiaobang Store and Xiejiaqiao Store, and each store welcomes guests at five in the morning. Each store uniformly distributes raw noodles and various toppings, entering a new era of scale operation.

Babao porridge shop

Benedict. Sell sugar porridge, eat sugar porridge before swinging-the cry of selling in Suzhou Lane is still so clear and familiar. I want to know this beautiful girl with red clouds and white snow, and I am going to an "old shop" at the east foot of Xuanmiao Temple. That is, the "Jacky porridge shop" opened in the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Kangxi went down to the south of the Yangtze River and tasted its delicious eight-treasure porridge, leaving Mo Bao with the "eight-treasure porridge", hence the new name "eight-treasure porridge shop".

"Eight-treasure porridge shop" not only sells nutritious eight-treasure porridge and cheap sugar porridge, but also stinky tofu with crisp outside, crisp spring rolls with fresh inside and imperial eight-treasure tofu ... absolutely delicious and cheap.

Other snacks

(1) Sweet potato sweetening oil faucet

Suzhou's sweet potatoes with sugar and oil are strictly selected, and they must be purchased from Yixing. It is said that Yixing sweet potato is delicate and crisp, which is incomparable to other sweet potatoes. White sugar is made of top grade, and the cooking technology strives to be coarse and fine, which is extremely serious. When processing, the sweet potato is washed first, roasted with slow fire in a large pot, and when it is half crisp, white sugar is added to collect the pulp, and the taste of sugar is required to penetrate the heart, and then the boiled sugar oil is poured, so that it can be served. Sweet potato with leading sugar and oil is bright in color. When you cut it open, it is full of red eyes and rich fragrance. The population is crispy and sweet. Especially loved by Suzhou people and overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. This used to be a trump card of Huang Tianyuan, a century-old shop, but now it seems to be rare.

(2) Sweet-scented osmanthus chicken head rice

Chicken head rice, which has nothing to do with chicken, is just a rare specialty of Nantong aquatic products in Fengmen, Suzhou, also known as Euryale ferox. The head of a chicken is also related to a chicken. Because the degenerated part of the calyx on the fruit of Euryale ferox looks like a chicken beak, everyone gave it a kind and appropriate common name "Jitoumi". Its meat color is jade white, its particles are like beads, and it is sweet, moist and soft, that is, it is called chicken head meat, which is made by peeling the shell of a farmer. Because it is labor-consuming, the chicken's head rice itself is a tonic comparable to tremella, so the price is more expensive. Sweet-scented osmanthus chicken head meat, with chicken head meat, sweet-scented osmanthus sugar and soft sugar as the main auxiliary raw materials, is sweet and delicious after being made, and is a favorite dessert of local people. In the past, chicken head rice was only eaten when it was on the market in the autumn. Now, some dried chicken head rice can be bought in some southern shops, which is convenient for tourists to continue their travel.

(3) Begonia Cake-Plum Cake

The two most beautiful snacks in Suzhou belong to Begonia Cake and Plum Blossom Cake. Now, I'm afraid it's still difficult to find their trace in big stores. In the past, they were often bought by shoulder vendors selling in the streets. The shapes of plum blossoms and begonia flowers are pleasing to the eye without eating them. They are baked in a special mold with a flour shell outside and a bean paste filling inside. Because of the mold of plum blossom and begonia, it is natural to make such a beautiful embryo. The freshly baked plum blossom and begonia cake is brown with caramel on the surface, which is especially sweet to eat. It is also decorated with five colors, such as shredded fruit, melon seeds and sesame seeds, to make the flowers fully bloom. So it's fun to eat Begonia Cake, and it's also interesting to watch the chef in the store make Begonia Cake. There is a vendor in Shenxian Street, Suzhou, who stands there all the year round and makes plum blossom and begonia cakes. Give it a try!

(4) Stir-frying the lotus root with osmanthus.

Osmanthus fragrans and mature lotus roots in autumn are the best seasons in Suzhou. Suzhou's sugar lotus root was famous all over the country in the Tang Dynasty. Suzhou people use local materials, using Suzhou's unique glutinous rice and sweet-scented osmanthus in full bloom in autumn, and they have this sweet, glutinous and crisp taste. The method is to take the middle part of lotus root, put glutinous rice into the hollow part of lotus root, recombine the cut head and middle part into strips with chopsticks or bamboo chopsticks, and put them into a pot of water to cook with white sugar, osmanthus fragrans and brown sugar. Finally, you will see sweet-scented osmanthus ripe lotus root, red sauce, juicy as honey, and sweet and glutinous at the entrance. You can also dip in rose sweet sauce, osmanthus sweet sauce or other toilet water.

(5) Glutinous rice

Xuenuo is a precious Redmi variety in Changshu since ancient times. Because of its high nutritional value and physical fitness, it was once regarded as a special "imperial meal" for tribute to the imperial court. Changshu people use it to brew winter sweet wine and make desserts. Blood glutinous rice, also known as fried blood glutinous rice, is a unique variety of Wang Si restaurant and a famous restaurant in Changshu. Stir-fried glutinous rice is purple, full and nutritious, and it is a famous feast. The production method is quite special. As a specialty of Changshu, duck blood glutinous rice and fine glutinous rice need to be soaked in advance, then steamed with white glutinous rice at a ratio of 3: 7, fried with sugar and oil, and sprinkled with osmanthus, which is full of color, flavor and taste.

Food street and famous restaurants

fenghuang street

Phoenix Street is connected to Ganjiang Road, which runs through Suzhou in the north, and Shiquan Street, which features hotels, teahouses and handicrafts in the south, with a length of less than 1000 meters. In the past two years, with the completion of neighborhood reconstruction, nearly 20 restaurants, large and small, have been opened from north to south.

Restaurants are generally small, ranging from a few tables to a dozen tables. The dishes are mainly Soviet-style, with the characteristics of Zhejiang cuisine, Sichuan cuisine and other cuisines, especially paying attention to the side dishes and production characteristics of home-cooked dishes. On this basis, seasonal dishes with small containers, meticulous knives and fresh taste are introduced, which are superior to home-cooked dishes in all aspects and make diners feel familiar and cordial.

The west entrance of the restaurant is Phoenix Street Civic Square. In the evening, the brightly lit restaurant is in sharp contrast with the scattered, quiet and leisure civic square. After a night of drinking, walk out of the hotel, take a few steps in the civic square, or sit for a while and enjoy the splendor and passers-by in this street with friends in silence.

Zhen Shan Mei Taoyuan

Located in the east of Humble Administrator's Garden in Northeast Street, Shanghai's "Xintiandi" has become the latest fashion place for catering, commerce, entertainment and culture with international standards. Suzhou also has a new world, with a particularly pleasant name-Zhenshanmeigouyuan.

The eastern part of the Humble Administrator's Garden was originally a residential area with dilapidated buildings, which was extremely out of harmony with the external environment of the Humble Administrator's Garden. As a practical project of the municipal government, it has been transformed into an antique garden-style tourist commodity market with an area of10.5 million square meters, with two main floors and three local floors, forming a big environment for tourism, leisure and shopping. The "True, Good and Beautiful Food Garden" jointly funded by the catering industry in Hongkong and Taiwan Province Province was also completed here, forming a "new world" of Suzhou cuisine.

In Dingtaifeng, you can try the famous authentic Dingtaifeng steamed buns in Taipei. The "Red Chef" who manages pure Italian dishes is a well-known senior western restaurant in Taiwan Province Province. Now it is unique in Suzhou with its bright decorative style and open kitchen layout. Cantonese cuisine focuses on "Jade", and chefs from Guangdong will let you taste authentic Cantonese cuisine. "Fumantang" Tea House, "Fang Jing" Cafe and "Ouba" Lounge allow people to have their own leisure. Chinese and western food, snacks, dinner, fragrant tea, coffee and drinks, and different styles and types of leisure catering come together to become a good place for people to relax.

Eunuch Lane-Bifeng Square

In Guanqian Street, the most prosperous street in Suzhou, there is a eunuch alley more than 200 meters long, named after the eunuch of Suzhou Weaving Bureau lived here in the Ming Dynasty. Now, it has become a famous food street in Suzhou.

Here, there are more than 65,438+00 famous restaurants and restaurants in Suzhou. To taste the famous Suzhou cuisine Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish, you can go to Songhelou Restaurant, which was founded in Qing Dynasty. Across the street from Songhelou is Deyuelou Restaurant, which is famous for shooting three films: Satisfied or Unsatisfied, Xiaoyuelou and Gourmet. Adjacent to Deyuelou is Wang Si Restaurant, which is famous for cooking Changshu dishes, such as Changshu beggar chicken. We want to eat the famous Qiao Feng series noodles and jiaozi with fine sand lard in Jiangsu, and Wufangzhai is famous for making snacks. Obliquely opposite is the pastry king-Zhu Hongxing. ...

"Heaven is Suzhou, eating evil eunuchs", a folk proverb in Suzhou, really illustrates the advantages of this food street.

Walking through eunuch lane, you can't make more mistakes than Bifengfang, which is a delicious and steaming food upstart street. In the past, I liked to look from east to west. Wang Si Hotel, Songhe Tower, Deyue Tower and Laozhengxing were all made by eunuchs. Now I should look from west to east. Zhu Hongxing, Lvyang Wonton Restaurant, Good People Folk Snacks, Chuanfulou, Haolunge Brazilian Barbecue, Tongrun Hunan Restaurant, Han Songyuan Korean Cuisine, One House ... Looking at the shops all over the street, many of them came from behind.

The rising Bifengfang never wants to compete with the eunuchs in the gourmet old street, only thinking about the characteristics of all rivers in the world and the ideal of gourmet in the world. There are big dishes waiting in the west, and there is a world food festival for civilians in the east. This block with a width of 12 m and a length of 300 m has not only Suzhou elites such as Zhu Hongxing and Luyang Wonton, but also smart Sichuan snacks. Guangdong and Hunan also came in a hurry, and even Japanese, Korean and Brazilian cuisines came across the sea. It's too noisy. Spend a little money, but you can enjoy the delicious food on earth. This is the biggest dietary feature of Bifengfang, and it has also become its vibrant sunshine concept.

Deyuelou

Address: No.27 eunuch lane

Tel: 226969

One of the most famous restaurants in Suzhou, divided into two floors, is a classical and exquisite building as a whole, which is very superior to Suzhou gardens. You can enjoy food and architecture.

The color of dishes changes at any time due to different seasons, such as cherry juice meat in spring; In summer, there are steamed shad, maple hooves, steamed meat with lotus paste powder and so on. Famous dishes in autumn include chestnuts and oily meat in braised chicken; In winter, there are eight treasure bones, boiled herring and assorted warm pots.

The other four seasons are good, with everything.

the pine crane tower

Address: Guanqian Street 14 1

Tel: 227923

Founded in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, it has a history of more than 200 years, and Songhelou has long been a representative of traditional Subang cuisine. Suzhou is close to the shore of Taihu Lake and rich in aquatic products, so the dishes are mainly fish and shrimp. Songhelou is no exception. The famous representative dishes are: sweet and sour mandarin fish, snail shrimp, braised pork and tofu.

Wang Si restaurant

Wang Si Restaurant was founded in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty. Weng Tonghe, the teacher of Emperor Guangxu, once drank and had fun in Wang Si Restaurant and wrote a couplet for Wang Si Restaurant, which is famous for its specialty in flower girl chicken.

Eunuch, headquartered in downtown Suzhou, runs a "food street", which is characterized by the combination of authentic Subang cuisine and northern and southern flavors.

The branch is located in Xishan Tianlong Hotel, a branch of Suzhou Xishan Scenic Area. Located at the north end of Shigong Mountain in Xishan Mountain, it has elegant scenery and Suzhou cuisine. It also provides the three treasures of Taihu Lake with local characteristics: "whitebait, white fish and white shrimp".

Aozao noodles restaurant

Aozao noodle restaurant was founded in Xianfeng for three years (1853) and has a history of 147 years. China's time-honored brand was awarded by the Ministry of Internal Trade. The predecessor of Aozao Pavilion is Tianxiang Pavilion in the north of Banshan Bridge. Because of poor management, the owner abandoned the museum and left. In the late Qing Dynasty, the creditor Mrs. Zhao San gave it to Chen Xiuying, the embroidered mother, and renamed it "Yan Fuxing". The ingenious Chen Xiuying is good at making exquisite snacks. She listened carefully to the opinions of the diners, and the carefully cooked red oil noodles were really extraordinary. The small noodle restaurant with only three and a half tables was suddenly full of customers and became famous. Since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Aozao Pavilion has restored its traditional characteristics, which has made the century-old store glow with the brilliance of the New Year, gained a great reputation and attracted a large number of customers. With China's opening to the outside world, the Austrian Furnace Museum is famous at home and abroad.

There have always been different opinions about the word "Aozao". It is said that when Emperor Qianlong went down to the south of the Yangtze River, he tasted this kind of noodles, and Jinkou named him "Aozao". This is a legend, there is no evidence. A more credible statement is: Yan Fuxing noodle restaurant is small and old, dark and long, while Chen Xiuying is old, slow-footed, and thick-eyed, but often crowded with diners, so he is jealous of his peers and calls red oil noodles "rotten noodles", which means it is not very clean. Who knows that this strange name actually made its reputation spread like wildfire, which increased the mystery in this respect, and then it was called "Aozaoting" with the homonym of "Yan Bad".