Xiangtan Boiled Fresh Fish 湘潭水煮活鱼

How it is made

Chu Guoliang describes the Xiangtan method: the fish is killed and cooked on the spot, and the main ingredient is the fish locals call xiongyu (雄鱼). It is passed through hot oil, then spring water from Zhaoshan (昭山) is added and the broth is boiled until it turns milky white. Green chilli rings, perilla (紫苏) and Longpai (龙牌) soy sauce go in, and the fish is poured into a white serving vessel and eaten hot.

His mother's home version starts by leaving the fish in a wooden tub of clean water to purge mud and sand. She fried it in tea-seed oil (茶油) until golden on both sides, added minced garlic, fermented black beans and chilli, and treated perilla as indispensable. Water went in and was boiled until the broth whitened; she skimmed the foam, seasoned with pepper, salt, MSG and soy sauce, moved the fish to an earthenware pot and scattered chopped scallion on top.

Flavour and texture

Chu describes the flesh as tender and the broth as fresh-tasting, rich without being greasy, and hot and spicy. At home it was eaten with a big bowl of rice, spoonfuls of the broth and seasonal vegetables fished out of the pot.

Where it comes from

In Chu's account, the dish is tied to Xiangchunlou (湘春楼), a restaurant founded in 1986 beside National Highway 107, once the road every traveller took from Xiangtan to the provincial capital. Diners came from across Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan, and lorry drivers on the highway made a point of stopping there to eat the fish.