Luoma Lake Icefish 骆马湖银鱼
Luoma Lake Icefish is featured among the local specialties of Jiangsu.
Luoma Lake Icefish (骆马湖银鱼) are the white, translucent fish of Luoma Lake (骆马湖) in Suqian (宿迁), Jiangsu, which the Suqian city government calls the best of the lake's catch alongside its shrimp, crabs and crayfish.
The fish and its flavour
The Suqian city government describes the fish as white and see-through like jade, each one shaped like a strip of silver, with tender, fresh-tasting flesh. Local by-names call it "shuizhong baiyin" (水中白银), silver in the water, and "shuizhong renshen" (水中人参), ginseng in the water. Frozen icefish from the lake, sold under brands such as Jinmei (金梅), are exported to Asia, Europe and the Americas, and to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
Where it comes from
Luoma Lake is one of the four large lakes of Jiangsu and lies where Xinyi (新沂) and Suqian meet, below the Maling hills (马陵山). Before the Ming dynasty the area held four separate small lakes; they joined into one in the late Ming, when the silting of the Si river (泗水) after the Yellow River took over its course held back the waters of the Yi river (沂水). In 1958 the lake was made a permanent reservoir.
Its water comes mainly from floods off the Yimeng mountains (沂蒙山) and from rain. The city government notes that there is no industrial pollution along the shore, that the water is clear all year, and that reeds and plankton grow thickly in the shallows. It records 56 kinds of fish in the lake.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-25. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.