Wuxi spareribs are the dish that defined the city's culinary identity. Pork ribs are braised long and slow in a liquid of soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, sugar, ginger, and star anise until the meat separates from the bone at a touch and the sauce reduces to a dark, glossy lacquer. The final flavour is emphatically sweet-savoury, richer and more cloying than Shanghai's red-braised pork — a matter of local preference that provokes strong opinions.
The best versions are served at the old-established restaurants in the Nanchan Temple and Qingming Bridge areas, where the dish is made from small rib sections rather than large American-style cuts. A portion arrives in a covered ceramic dish, the ribs swimming in a shallow pool of deeply coloured braising liquid. Eat them with plain rice and a simple vegetable to balance the sweetness.