River Knifefish 河刀鱼
River Knifefish is featured among the local specialties of Liaoning.
River Knifefish (河刀鱼) is the knifefish of the Liao River (辽河) mouth, cooked in Panjin (盘锦) by frying it in the pan. In December 2024 the Liaoning Provincial Department of Commerce (辽宁省商务厅) put "Panjin fried and sauced river knifefish" (盘锦煎烹河刀) among Panjin's 13 entries on its list of 196 Liaoning landmark foods.
Where it comes from
Panjin lies at the point where the Liao River enters the sea, a coast of tidal creeks and mudflats. The Panjin Cultural Centre (盘锦市文化馆) carries a 2015 article from the magazine Jinri Liaoning (今日辽宁) on Liaohekou fisherfolk cuisine (辽河口渔家菜), the label Panjin adopted for its local food, which is built from seafood, freshwater catch and wetland produce. Among the dishes the label should bring to mind, Jinri Liaoning lists plates of pan-fried river knifefish (煎河刀) beside stewed mullet and small dishes of shrimp paste.
A 2017 travel piece from the Xinglongtai District (兴隆台区) government names dry-fried river knifefish (干煎河刀), next to iron-pot stewed fish and small-fish fried sauce, among the Panjin dishes cooked on the district's Jinxiang food street (锦祥美食一条街).
The fish
The Liaoning provincial government's forestry and grassland plan for 2021 to 2025 calls for fish passages and for restoring the migration route of the Liao River knifefish (辽河刀鲚). In 2025 Science and Technology Daily (科技日报), reporting from the Red Beach National Scenic Corridor (红海滩国家风景廊道) in Panjin, quoted a local fisher, Zhang Fang, saying that the Liao River knifefish, common in childhood, has come back. The name daoji (刀鲚) refers to Coilia nasus, a small fish that migrates from the sea up rivers and narrows gradually from head to tail.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.