Shunde Raw Fish Slices 顺德鱼生
Shunde Raw Fish Slices is featured among the local specialties of Guangdong.
.jpg){kind=link}
Photo adjustments
Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Shunde Raw Fish Slices (顺德鱼生) are paper-thin slices of raw freshwater fish from Shunde (顺德) in Foshan (佛山), Guangdong, which each diner tosses with a choice of condiments and peanut oil. A Sanlian Life Week (三联生活周刊) food column calls the dish the showpiece of Shunde cooking.
How it is made
The fish is killed only when it is ordered. The Sanlian column describes the cook bleeding the fish completely so that the flesh comes out clear and white like jade, then slicing it no thicker than 0.5 millimetres. The skin is separated from the flesh and served as a dish of its own, "tossed fish skin" (捞起鱼皮), mixed with peanuts and condiments; lao qi (捞起), "tossing up", carries a wish for a thriving business.
Grass carp is the fish covered by Shunde's rules. In 2019 Shunde issued a group standard for the whole yusheng supply chain for grass carp (《顺德鱼生全产业链管控技术规范 草鱼部分》), covering farming, transport, delivery and preparation, reports the 21st Century Business Herald (21世纪经济报道). One supplier's certified yusheng grass carp is kept in clean water (吊水) for more than 90 days before it reaches the table, and by late 2024, 36 restaurants had been named Shunde yusheng standard demonstration shops. The second Shunde yusheng festival opened in August 2024.
How it is eaten
The slices come with at least ten condiments, among them finely shredded lemon leaf, onion, sliced garlic, preserved mustard tuber (榨菜), peanuts, white sesame, pickled chillies, dried tangerine peel and fried taro shreds. Each diner picks the ones they like, adds some peanut oil and tosses them with the fish in the bowl before eating.
Flavour and texture
The Sanlian column describes the fish as springy, sweet, smooth and tender, taking on the sharpness of the condiments. The tossed fish skin is cold and smooth, sweet and salty at once.
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.