Qiupu Mandarin Fish with Egg Custard 秋浦花鳜
Qiupu Mandarin Fish with Egg Custard is featured among the local specialties of Anhui.
Image notes
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Qiupu Mandarin Fish with Egg Custard (秋浦花鳜) is Chizhou's (池州) steamed mandarin fish laid on a set egg custard, a dish the city's culture and tourism bureau lists in its food series under the name Chizhou mandarin fish (池州鳜鱼).
How it is made
The bureau's method has two steaming stages. First, eggs are beaten, seasoned and steamed until they set. The mandarin fish is killed and cleaned and cut into slices, while the head and tail are steamed separately. The slices, coated in a starch slurry, are laid in rows on the set egg, the cooked head and tail are placed at either end so the plate takes the shape of a fish, and more egg mixture is poured in before a second round of steaming sets it.
To finish, a small heap of three shreds (三丝), namely spring onion, ginger and red pepper, goes on top, hot oil is poured over and a little steamed-fish soy sauce is added.
Ingredients
The main ingredients are Chizhou mandarin fish, free-range farm eggs and purified water. The seasonings are spring onion, ginger, shredded red pepper and steamed-fish soy sauce. The bureau sums up the result as extremely fresh-tasting.
Where it comes from
The main producing area for the fish is Guichi District (贵池区) of Chizhou, whose old name was Qiupu (秋浦), the first half of the dish's name. A local legend says that Crown Prince Zhaoming of Liang (梁昭明太子) was so fond of mandarin fish, and found the water and fish here so good, that he named the water Guichi, 'precious pool', and Qiupu County was renamed Guichi County.
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Huizhou fermented mandarin fish 徽州臭鳜鱼 →
Huizhou Fermented Mandarin Fish uses the same fish but cures it before cooking, while the Chizhou dish steams fresh slices over egg custard.
Questions before you order
Is the fish served whole?
It looks whole but is not: the body is cut into slices laid over the egg custard, and the separately steamed head and tail are set at either end to rebuild the fish shape.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-23. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.