The food in this region is known for its clean light flavors and fresh seafood from the river and sea.

This is the food of Jiangsu and Shanghai.

Chinese food is more than just stir fry noodles and dumplings.

I'm Claressa and I'm taking you on a journey through China to try authentic Chinese food region by region.

First, where exactly is Jiangsu?

It's a province in the south eastern part of China.

Songhai is just outside of Jiangsu and is heavily influenced by its cuisine.

Known as the land of fish and rice, this region is anchored by waterways, so you can expect lots of freshwater fish and crustaceans.

Thes two lakes in particular, are famous for their seafood.

They're also breeding grounds for aquatic vegetables like lotus root and water chestnut.

But what really sets this regions food apart is spectacular.

Knife work?

A.

And it's not just poultry that's processed with fancy knife skills.

There's also finally sliced tofu and this fish carved into the shape of a squirrel way.

No dunk.

Slow food looks good, but what about the flavor profiles compared to other regions.

In China, the food tends to be rather sweet.

This'll sauce is used to make dishes like red braised pork and red braised duck.

Even soup dumplings have a hint of sugar soup.

Dumplings are arguably this region's most famous export, their delicate pockets of pork and souped wrapped into a thin wheat skin.

And they come in different sizes, depending on where they're from.

This version from Yangzhou is so big that it requires a straw.

So why is everything so sweet?

E Thank you, Joel.

A e o E o uh, my mother.

Uh, wait, uh, you can expect to find lots of deserts in this part of China, like hung in sweet rice balls in soup garnished with osmanthus flowers and sticky sweet rice cakes.

So visit this region if you're looking for delicate flavors, fresh seafood and sweet dumplings.

Up next, we're going to go on a food tour of Sung Hae and reveal the best soup dumplings in town.

Questions asked me directly in the comments below.