Su Cuisine originated from Suzhou , and later from Yangzhou and Hangzhou too . Its first characteristic is combination of relishes of both the Southerners and the Northerners . This region was the abode of the emperors during the Six-Dynasties and the Southern Song Dynasty . The Great Canal flowing through the region has facilitated the exchanges between the South and North . The Su cuisine chefs , on the one hand are dexterous in cooking southern style dishes , which are tasty and refreshing , and on the other hand are dexterous in cooking high-heat and high-protein dishes , such as stewed pig knuckles with ham , braised “Lion’s Head” (pork balls) and stir-fried eel pastry . In the menu of the Su cuisine can be found a long list of dishes suiting both the Southerners and the Northerners .
       Plenty of lake produce and seafood constitute the second characteristic of the Su cuisine . Such dishes include the Crab-yellow Lion’s Head , Crab-yellow petrel nest , Shark fin in shrimp soup , West-Lake sweet sour fish , Steamed hilsa herring (produced in the Fuchun River) , meat-stuffed lotus root , spicy Tai-Lake crucian carp soup , lotus-seed duck broth , etc .

       The third characteristic of the Su cuisine is its exquisite refreshments and snacks , such as Pine-nut-crystalline-meat sweet cake , Crab-yellow-soup bun , Crab-yellow steamed dumpling , Ningbo dumping , etc , which are famed throughout China .