Shanghai 2010 - Lunch at Wu Di Ren Jia Restaurant Suzhou

After seeing all the red-cooked pork knuckles at the water village, we had to try it. Luckily the restaurant where we had lunch also serve this famous Suzhou specialty, so we were in luck. The food here is a little bit different from Shanghai. Whereas Shanghainese food is more elaborate in its cooking techniques, here the emphasis is more on fresh ingredients cooked very simply to retain the original flavours.

The restaurant.


Here’s what we had. An appetizer of Chinese dates in light syrup.


Stewed local fish with brown sauce and peanut. I didn't quite like the fish as there wasn't much texture or flavour in the meat.


Deep-fried duck. This was nice - crispy skin with tender meat inside.


Sweet corn, carrots and peas stirfried with small shrimps - very light and refreshing.


Black fungus stirfried with eggs. Another simple yet nice dish.


Stirfried chicken with red and green peppers, in a slightly spicy sauce.


Sweet and sour fish. The sauce is too overwhelming, and the fish not much taste. In general I would avoid the sweet and sour dishes in Shanghai as they are a bit too heavy-handed with the sauce.


Noodles with soy sauce and vinegar. This is eaten with a tangy chili paste which you add to your own taste. Nice.


The piece de resistance – Hong Shao Zhu Jiao. This was really good – the meat was meltingly tender, and the braising sauce very rich and flavourful.


Wu Di Ren Jia is a chain of restaurants in Suzhou. They have several outlets all over the city. The one where we lunch was in the city centre. Really worth checking out for the Red Cooked Pork Knuckle.

Comments

Scho said…
The corn, pea, dish looks like a western dish.
Borneoboy said…
Hi Scho. You're right. It does look a bit Western. Sometimes the simplest cooking technique brings out the best natural taste of the ingredients.
I've got black fungus and eggs in at home. Looks easy to whip up for dinner. Thanks for the idea.

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