A whole mandarin fish lies on a long oval white porcelain platter, its skin fried golden and covered in red-brown sauce, with diced pork belly, bamboo shoot and chopped scallion scattered around it.
The regional cooking of Anhui, best known through the Huizhou food of the south, with a name for fire control and rich colour.
Stinky mandarin fish is a signature dish of Huizhou cooking, today mostly linked with the Huangshan area of Anhui: mandarin fish is salt-cured for several days until it ferments to a strong smell, then rinsed, pan-fried and braised. Its claimed history of over 200 years and the following origin story are traditional accounts without confirming or dated documents in the listed materials, so no origin year is given: mountainous Huizhou had no mandarin fish of its own, so fish came from the Yangtze region and was salted on the way.
What
Stinky mandarin fish is a signature Huizhou dish. Mandarin fish is salt-cured for several days until it ferments to a strong smell, then rinsed, pan-fried and braised. The flesh stays firm and tastes salty and savory.1,2,3,6
When
The claim that the dish is over 200 years old is traditional; no dated text was found in the listed materials to establish an origin year, dynasty or associated person.1,2,4,6,8
Where
The dish is closely associated with Huizhou, today's Huangshan City area in Anhui Province, and Huangshan is a main production area. Folk accounts describe fish arriving by water from the Yangtze region, with different versions naming Tongling, Guichi or Anqing as their starting points.1,2,4,5,7,8
How
Traditionally, fish is rubbed with salt (sometimes with Sichuan pepper or other spices), layered in a wooden barrel under a stone and turned daily; curing takes a few days to over 10, varying by season and method. The traditional cure documented in 2022 takes about 5 to 6 days at 25 to 28 degrees Celsius, while restaurants generally cure for about 1 day. The fish is rinsed, fried until golden and braised with pork belly, bamboo shoots, chili and other ingredients for roughly 10 to 20 minutes. A food-technology comparison found that dry curing produced better quality than wet or rapid curing.1,2,3,4,8,9
Why
The following origin story is folklore, unconfirmed by documents in the listed materials: mountainous Huizhou had no mandarin fish of its own, so fish traveled from the Yangtze region by water and over hills. Salting prevented spoilage; people enjoyed the cured fish and kept the method.1,2,4,6,8
Impact and influence
Stinky mandarin fish is often associated with Huizhou cooking and became more widely known after the documentary A Bite of China aired. Firms around Huangshan now sell ready-to-heat packs and even cured-fish rice dumplings. The industry's annual output value of about 4 billion yuan, published in 2022, refers to 2021. Although called an intangible heritage food, it is not recorded here as a formal heritage item because no official listing was found in the supplied materials.4,5,7,8,10
Legend has it that a Huizhou prefect surnamed Miao loved fresh mandarin fish, which had to be carried for days from the Yangtze. On one hot trip the fish began to smell, so the carriers salted it and a cook prepared it. The prefect liked the taste, and the dish became known. Another version says a clerk called Wang Xiaoer and his elder brother, a cook, let people taste it for free to make it known.
Told in: A folk legend told in Huizhou (today the Huangshan area), found in Chinese Wikipedia and in a city guide's retelling. Chinese Wikipedia notes that the entry rests on a single source, and the prefect in the tale has only a surname and no date.
The Fish Traders' Barrels
Legend has it that fish traders packed Yangtze fish in salted wooden barrels and carried them uphill to Huizhou, turning them now and then on the way. On arrival the fish smelled strong but had not spoiled, and once washed and cooked it tasted even better than fresh fish.
Told in: A folk account found in writing on Huizhou food and in a China Daily article; one article says plainly that this is a folk account and not documented history.
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
The traditional cure for stinky mandarin fish takes several days; at home I simplify it: rub the fish with salt, leave it in the refrigerator for a day and a night, then fry and braise it. The smell is much milder than the traditional one. None of the recipes I looked at gives the weight of salt, so the amounts and timings below are my own choices at home.
Ingredients
Mandarin fish 1 fish, about 500 g, scaled, gutted, gills removed
Salt 15 g
Sichuan peppercorns 1 teaspoon, about 3 g
Pork belly 100 g, diced small
Bamboo shoot 100 g, diced small
Ginger 4 slices
Garlic 3 cloves, crushed
Dried chili 3, broken in half
Cooking wine 1 tablespoon
Light soy sauce 1 tablespoon
Sugar 1 teaspoon
Water about 250 ml
Cooking oil 3 tablespoons, about 45 ml
Scallion 1 stalk, chopped
Steps
Toast the peppercorns in a dry pan over low heat until fragrant, let them cool and mix them with the salt. Rub the mixture all over the fish, inside and out. Put the fish in a covered container and leave it in the refrigerator for a day and a night.
Take the fish out, rinse the salt off the surface, pour away any liquid that has seeped out and pat the fish dry.
Heat a wide pan, add 3 tablespoons of oil and put in the fish. Fry over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes on each side until golden, then take it out.
Leave a little oil in the pan. Fry the pork belly until it gives off fat, add the ginger, garlic and dried chili until fragrant, then stir in the bamboo shoot for about 1 minute.
Add the cooking wine, soy sauce, sugar and about 250 ml of water. Bring to a boil, lay in the fried fish, cover and cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, turning the fish once. Poke the thick part of the fish with a chopstick: the fish is done when the flesh has turned white and comes easily off the bone.
Uncover, turn the heat up to thicken the sauce a little, scatter the scallion over it and eat hot.
Tips
Pat the fish dry before frying, and do not turn it right away; wait until one side has set. That is my own habit, and it keeps the skin from sticking.
For a stronger smell you can buy ready-cured stinky mandarin fish from a shop, follow the directions on its package and start from step 2.
