Jiangkou Sour-Soup Fish 江口鱼
Jiangkou Sour-Soup Fish is featured among the local specialties of Chongqing.
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Jiangkou Sour-Soup Fish (江口鱼) is fish boiled for a couple of minutes in a sour broth of long-fermented pickles, named after Jiangkou town (江口镇) in eastern Wulong District (武隆区), Chongqing, where the Wu River (乌江) meets the Furong River (芙蓉江).
How it is made
Rapeseed oil is heated until very hot, and pickled ginger, pickled pointed chillies, pickled radish, fresh ginger slices, garlic slices and some Sichuan pepper are fried briefly until fragrant. Spring water goes in and is brought to the boil, then the fish is added and cooked for only about two minutes.
The pickles are the point: the older the better, and at least two years in the jar. The Chongqing Daily (重庆日报) feature explains that the acidity of old pickles takes away the fishy smell and brings out the freshness of the fish, while the sourness soaks into the white flesh as it cooks.
Where it comes from
Strictly, Jiangkou fish is a collective name for the many kinds of fish caught and cooked at Jiangkou rather than one species or one fixed flavour. Because the town's sour-soup fish (酸汤鱼) became so well known, the name now usually means that dish. A saying once went: 'If you have not tasted Jiangkou fish, you have come to Wulong in vain' (未尝江口鱼，枉来武隆县).
Jiangkou lies on the route between Chongqing and Guizhou and is known as the 'screen gate between Chongqing and Guizhou' (渝黔门屏). It is an old town: Xin'an county (信安县) was set up there as early as the Sui dynasty.
More dishes to compare
Explore related local specialties and compare their names, preparation notes and ordering guidance.
Wujiang River Fish 乌江鱼 →
Another fish dish named for the Wu River, on which Jiangkou stands; the Jiangkou version is defined by its broth of pickles aged at least two years.
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.