Burqin Grilled Fish 布尔津烤鱼

Burqin Grilled Fish (布尔津烤鱼) is grilled cold-water fish from the Irtysh River (额尔齐斯河), eaten in Burqin County (布尔津县) in Altay Prefecture (阿勒泰地区). CCTV News describes it as a crowd favourite, known for a strong flavour and a firm bite.

The fish

Burqin sits right beside the Irtysh, and the river holds cold-water fish of many sizes whose flesh is firm and has few small bones. CCTV News calls grilled pike (狗鱼, literally 'dog fish') a must-eat in Burqin. It gives the pike the name qiaoertai (乔尔泰) and describes it as a cold-hardy fish of the Irtysh in Altay, named for its flat head and dog-like mouth; it looks fierce, but its meat is white, tender and has few bones.

Where and how it is eaten

Grilled fish is a night-market food in Burqin. People's Daily's Xinjiang channel names the county's evening food districts, among them the riverbank night market (河堤夜市) and the Four Seasons food night market (四季美食夜市), and reports that grilled fish with biwa (比瓦) is the standard order at almost every night-market table. Biwa is a pale-yellow local drink made by simmering hops, bran and honey and letting them ferment; it tastes cool, sweet and slightly sour. The biwa-making technique of the Russian ethnic group (俄罗斯族) is among the intangible-heritage crafts shown in these night-market districts. Xinjiang Daily reported in 2019 that the Ma Degui fish restaurant (马德贵鱼庄) was the best known of nearly 120 shops at the Four Seasons night market, with visitors from other parts of China arriving with photos on their phones and asking for its grilled fish. Irtysh River grilled fish is also sold in the evenings on the Sino-Russian Old Wharf street (中俄老码头风情街).