Puyang Slow-Simmered Soft-Bone Fish 糟鱼

Puyang Slow-Simmered Soft-Bone Fish (糟鱼) is a traditional dish of Puyang (濮阳), Henan. The Henan Department of Culture and Tourism (河南省文化和旅游厅) places it in Henan cuisine, known as Yu cuisine (豫菜), and calls it a "gongfu dish" (功夫菜) that demands time and skill: Yellow River carp simmered slowly over a gentle fire until even the bones can be eaten.

How it is made

The department names Yellow River carp as the fish and gentle, slow simmering as the method. A 2022 report by China Media Group's Straits Feihong (海峡飞虹), which followed young visitors from Taiwan around Puyang, says the dish is made with Yellow River carp or grass carp, and that the cooked fish comes out whole.

Flavour and texture

The point of the dish is that the bones stop being a hazard. The department writes that the fish keeps its shape while the bones inside have turned crisp and soft, so the flesh is tender, the bones are crisp and fragrant, and both are eaten. China Media Group describes the flesh as loose and soft and the bones as "soft as mud" (骨烂如泥), and names the "tipsy" (醉酒) zaoyu among its candidates for the dish that best represents Puyang.