Qianjiang Snakehead Fish Noodles 潜江财鱼面

Qianjiang Snakehead Fish Noodles (潜江财鱼面) are a breakfast noodle bowl from Qianjiang (潜江), Hubei, topped with slices of caiyu (财鱼) and finished with a broth made from the same fish.

How it is made

Tender, smooth slices of caiyu are laid over chewy noodles as the topping, and a rich, savoury caiyu broth is then poured over the bowl. The Qianjiang culture and tourism bureau puts the bowl's character down to freshness: snow-white fish slices spread over springy noodles under that broth. The city food map adds that the bowl smells fragrant and tastes savoury.

Where it comes from

Qianjiang is known as a "water town of gardens" (水乡园林) and has plenty of river fish, and the city's food map ranks caiyu among the best of them. The map, compiled by the city commerce bureau and the local cooking and hotel trade association, lists the noodles among 30 Qianjiang specialities and places them in its section on guozao (过早), the Hubei word for eating breakfast.