Suanye (Pickled Vegetables)

Suanye is the most distinctive local pickled snack of Nanning and Guangxi: papaya, radish, cucumber, mango, starfruit and guava are pickled with rice vinegar, sugar, salt and chili, yielding a crisp, sour-sweet treat.

Pickling customs have been part of Zhuang life in Guangxi for hundreds of years, a traditional means of preserving food and stimulating appetite in the hot climate; today suanye has evolved into Nanning's most distinctive street-snack form.

Street stalls sell it by weight, pierced on bamboo skewers for eating on the go—the most common snack for Nanning residents out shopping, refreshing and thirst-quenching in the heat.

Defined by its ever-varying seasonal fruit-and-vegetable combinations and sour-sweet crunch, suanye is the most everyday street food embodying Nanning's local character.