Wuzhen Aozao Noodles

Aozao noodles are a Jiangnan dish that Wuzhen cooks have made their own: a red or clear broth drawn from eel, fish and chicken bones, served with fine strands and toppings such as fried fish or sauce duck, the soup deep and savoury, the noodles springy and smooth.

Aozao noodles began in nearby Kunshan, said to be created by a widow who drew broth from fish scales and gills over a coal stove, the rough hearth giving the dish its name of "aozao." Wuzhen, where Jiangsu and Zhejiang meet, has long absorbed the noodle culture of southern Jiangsu; local cooks keep the broth method and fold in river fish and sauce duck to make a water-town style of their own.

Take a sip of the broth first while hot, then lift the noodles with their toppings; the crisp fragrance of fried fish, the sauce notes of duck and the broth all run together, a warming start to a Wuzhen morning.

The deep, savoury broth drawn from fish and eel bones, the fine springy strands and the generous toppings of fried fish and sauce duck are the marks of Wuzhen Aozao noodles.