Fish with Fermented Black Beans 豆豉鱼
Fish with Fermented Black Beans is featured among the local specialties of Chongqing.
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Fish with Fermented Black Beans (豆豉鱼) in Yongchuan (永川) includes a crucian carp preparation built around the district’s douchi (豆豉), a fermented soybean seasoning. The carp is fried before it is simmered with chopped beans and aromatics.
How it is made
The cleaned fish is scored on both sides, while the douchi is chopped and scallion, ginger and garlic are minced. After the carp has been fried until golden on both sides, the aromatics go into the pan with star anise, bay leaf and the fermented beans.
Water is added with the fried fish. It is brought to a boil and then simmered for about ten minutes. Cooking wine, light and dark soy sauces, sugar, salt and chicken seasoning flavour the liquid. Once the sauce has thickened, red chilli oil finishes the dish.
Flavour and texture
China Tourism News describes the crucian carp as richly scented with douchi and distinctly savoury, with fish that becomes tender enough to break down readily in the mouth. Yongchuan also has crisp-fish and tile-shaped fish-piece preparations under the broader name Fish with Fermented Black Beans.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-26. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.