What Delicious Food Can You Taste in Wuzhen?

Wuzhen’s braised mutton demands extremely strict ingredient selection: it must be young Hu sheep raised that year, locally called “huake sheep”. This breed boasts tender meat with little fat, fine smooth skin and rich marrow. Common seasonings include radish, soy sauce, rice wine, red dates, rock sugar and old ginger. The mutton is first seared over high heat then simmered on low flame, with the cooking heat fully controlled by the chef’s experience. A local Wuzhen saying goes: “A pot of winter mutton outvalues several catties of ginseng.”

The mutton is simmered all night in huge iron cauldrons heated by firewood on traditional earthen stoves. Gourmets each have their favourite cuts: some prefer marbled shoulder meat alternating fat and lean; others fancy juicy tender leg meat; many love the rich fatty tail section; some go for tender neck muscle; and others favour sheep trotters and offal. Food lovers are even willing to abandon their morning sleep to wait for the pot of mutton simmered gently all night to be opened.

Pair it with a small glass of wine, or order a bowl of mutton noodles made from freshly milled fine flour, sprinkled with bright green garlic leaves and pale yellow ginger shreds — pure satisfaction.

Nearly every restaurant in Wuzhen places a large iron cauldron outside the door filled with steaming braised mutton, tempting passersby to salivate. Many visitors cannot wait until mealtime and grab a bowl to feast immediately.

A century-old waterside pavilion restaurant with its front facing the street and rear overlooking the river, it specialises in authentic rustic local dishes at affordable prices with distinctive flavours. Its signature braised mutton simmered on an earthen stove exudes an alluring strong aroma. Other specialities include steamed taro with cured pork, chrysanthemum chive egg pancakes, Fengyuan fragrant pork knuckle wrapped in reed leaves, and loaches braised with preserved mustard greens. Price of braised mutton: 35 RMB per serving Address: West side of God of Wealth Bay, East Scenic Zone Tel: 0573-8718048

White-fleshed grass carp is a wild freshwater fish native to Wuzhen’s unpolluted waterways, prized as a rare freshwater delicacy for its tender, tasty flesh, perfect for steaming or braising in brown sauce. This fish was once abundant around Wuzhen yet has grown scarcer in recent years. It dies shortly after being caught, but retains its full flavour if properly preserved. If live specimens are available, ask the chef to kill and cook it fresh for an unparalleled taste. The fish is sold whole, priced from 35 to 65 RMB each.

Address: West side of Taiping Bridge, East Scenic Zone Tel: 0573-8718799 Signature Dishes: Steamed white grass carp with chopped chilli, pumpkin pancake with nut kernels, soft tofu stewed with preserved mustard stalks, Hanlin-style marinated duck, countryside broad bean paste, pork rolls wrapped in reed leaves, salted goose stewed with river snails

Wuzhen marinated chicken uses free-range local hens raised by villagers that year. The whole chicken is simmered repeatedly in its own marinade broth three times, then soaked in premium soy sauce, rice wine, white sugar and assorted spices. After cooking, sesame oil is brushed over the skin to finish. Repeated slow cooking in its original broth evaporates most moisture inside the chicken, granting it excellent storage stability — locals claim it “does not spoil in the sixth lunar month nor freeze solid in the twelfth”. Its glossy reddish-brown skin delivers crisp, tender, savoury meat with a lasting aftertaste.

Though its production steps look simple to outsiders, every procedure requires rigorous control and precise heat management, relying on exclusive secret cooking techniques and decades of experience. One whole marinated chicken costs around 68 RMB.

Features waterside pavilion architecture and classic local flavours. Savour drinks beside the river for a unique leisurely experience. Address: South end of Yingjia Bridge, East Scenic Zone Tel: 0573-88711099

China is the world’s earliest origin of soy sauce production, with a history of over 2,000 years of all-natural fermentation. In the 9th year of the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1859), local resident Tao Xuchang founded Xuchang Sauce Garden named after himself — the earliest recorded sauce garden in Wuzhen’s history.

For more than a century, Xuchang Sauce Garden has maintained consistent product quality and flavour. It operates with a shop in front and a workshop at the back, handling self-production and retail sales. Core products under the Tao Xuchang brand include broad bean paste, soy sauce and pickled vegetables. The condiments are made from premium soybeans, broad beans and wheat: koji is cultivated in bamboo trays, followed by six full months of natural sunning, exposure and fermentation, all handmade via ancient recipes with zero artificial flavourings, pigments or preservatives, delivering rich natural soy aroma.

Three-White Rice Wine is Wuzhen’s signature handmade wine brewed from all-natural raw materials. Its name derives from the Records of Wuqing Town, which states: “It is made from white rice, white flour and clear white water, hence the name Three-White.” Mellow, pure, sweet and palatable, it suits all ages. Famous across the Jiangnan region for its rich fragrance, smooth sweet entry and clean lingering finish, it has remained popular for hundreds of years. Varieties include 55% ABV classic Three-White Wine, 12% ABV glutinous rice wine and 4% ABV sweet rice wine.

A traditional iconic pastry of Wuzhen in Tongxiang, with a recorded history of more than a hundred years in the Records of Wuqing Town. Folk legend tells it originated from a quarrel between a wife and her sister-in-law, giving the pastry its name. Resembling Chinese chess-piece cakes yet slightly larger, it shares ingredients with crisp sugar candy: flour, white sugar, sesame seeds and lard. However, it tastes far more delicious, characterised by rich oiliness without greasiness, crisp texture that holds shape, aromatic glutinous crumb and a balanced sweet-salty flavour. Over a century ago, the Fang family ran a tea and pastry shop named Fang Tianshun, inheriting an ancestral craft for crisp sugar pastries.

Local snacks including handcrafted soy paste, Three-White Rice Wine and Aunt-and-Sister Pastry are widely sold in street-front shops across Wuzhen at stable prices: small jars of handmade paste cost 15 RMB each, Three-White Wine is 30 RMB per jar, and Aunt-and-Sister Pastry ranges from 6 to 8 RMB per jin.