Freshwater Fish, Shrimp and Shellfish · FFET10479
Eel (manyu)
Eel can be braised, fried, or made into noodles; farming still depends on wild glass eels.
Fish, shrimp, crab and molluscs from rivers, lakes and ponds.
The freshwater eel known as manyu or manli is now mostly pond-farmed for food. Farming areas include Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang, and eel is also commonly used in Cantonese and Shanghai cooking. Older recipe texts record braised eel, fried eel, and eel noodles, while modern farming still depends on wild glass eels.
What
Here, eel refers to freshwater eels eaten as food, now mostly raised in ponds. Eel was also dried, with the dried form known as fengman.1,4
When
Historical writing describes cooking eel with five flavors, and older recipe texts include braised eel, fried eel, and eel noodles. The available passages supply no year establishing the earliest consumption. Modern eel farming techniques reached China in the late 1970s.1,2,3,4
Where
Major eel farming provinces include Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Shandong, with Fujian first in farming output. Eel is also commonly used in Cantonese and Shanghai cooking.5,6
How
Modern farming still depends on wild glass eels. Older recipe texts include braising eel until tender in wine and water with sweet bean paste, fennel, and star anise, or frying eel segments in sesame oil before braising them over stir-fried mugwort shoots.2,4
Why
Eel can be used beyond cooking it in pieces. One older noodle recipe calls for steaming a large eel until soft, kneading its flesh into dough with chicken stock, and cutting thin noodles to serve in a chicken, ham, and mushroom broth.3
Impact and influence
A report published on November 1, 2024, recorded China's 2023 farmed eel output at 292,000 metric tons and exports at 68,000 metric tons, worth 1.16 billion US dollars.4