Street Food

 You can find a lot of street food for sale in old Suzhou, especially in the places where there are crowds.  If the crowds are normally shoppers or tourists, then the street food will be more exotic or indulgent.  You can get working man's food near the construction sites.  Tourists and shoppers want empty calories...the Chinese analog of a deep-fried-twinkie. 

Just outside of the Lion Grove Garden, we found this couple selling steamed sticky rice cakes.  The lady would fill a little wooden bowl with sticky rise flour and then the man would top the bowl with your choice dried fruits or nuts.  The mixture was placed on a steamer for five minutes and then, viola! - you had a glob of hot, sticky, sweet, goodness.

The cost for each cake was 2 or 3 RMB (thirty to forty cents) depending upon the type of topping.  Theresa and I bought a couple of cakes.  They were very tasty.  It was a good sign that the Chinese folks were lined up three or four deep waiting for their chance to order.  You have to approach the street food with a little bit of caution.  A line of waiting customers is always a good sign.  And a cooking process that kills gut-tumbling germs..like five minutes of steaming...that is enough to seal the deal.