Charcoal-Cured Small Fish 火烘鱼
Charcoal-Cured Small Fish is featured among the local specialties of Anhui.
Charcoal-Cured Small Fish (火烘鱼) are small wild fish from local rivers and lakes, smoked dry over charcoal, a southern Anhui specialty that the Ningguo (宁国) city government says is best around Ningguo.
The fish
The usual choice is local river and lake fish such as sharpbelly (白条鱼) or black carp (青鱼), and size matters: each fish should weigh only two to three qian (钱), about 10 to 15 grams, and measure three to four cun (寸), roughly 10 to 13 centimetres. A bigger fish is hard to dry through over the fire, and a smaller one burns. Fish this small are caught with nets whose mesh is about as wide as a little finger.
How it is made
The fish are washed, cut into pieces about one centimetre thick and smoked. Over the charcoal the silvery fish slowly lose their water and turn golden, and the finished pieces are fragrant and crisp, with a yellowed surface, crisp skin, tender flesh and a smell of charcoal.
In Ningguo the dried fish is cooked as "charcoal-cured fish with griddle cakes" (火烘鱼锅贴). Scallion and ginger are fried in the wok, then yellow rice wine, vinegar, dark soy sauce, a little oyster sauce and chopped chilli go in with the fish. After about a minute at a boil over high heat, salt, chicken bouillon and sugar are added and the fish simmers on low heat for four to five minutes.
How it is eaten
Cornmeal griddle cakes are stuck in a ring around the edge of the pot. They come out scorched underneath and soft on top, soaking up the juices of the fish and giving off the smell of coarse-grain flatbread.
More dishes to compare
Explore related local specialties and compare their names, preparation notes and ordering guidance.
Huizhou fermented mandarin fish 徽州臭鳜鱼 →
Both are southern Anhui fish preserved before they are cooked: a mandarin fish fermented whole there, small river and lake fish dried over charcoal here.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-23. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.