When it comes to Guilin, people usually think of Yangshuo , the landscape of Yangshuo, and the beer fish of Yangshuo. However, in Quanzhou in the north of Guilin, there is also a fish-related delicacy: hot and sour grass fish.
What exactly is this grass fish ?
01
Gramineae is an ecological fish that grows in rice fields. Because they eat rice and fall flowers, they are called grass fish. They are also called grass black carp, span2span, and black carp. Quanzhou grass fish was bred after long-term stocking and domestication in rice fields. Its morphology and living habits have been significantly different from the general carp . The body is thick and short, and the scales are small and transparent. Among them, the black belly carp has the best taste.
02
Quanzhou County has a tradition of cultivating grass fish, and the cultivation of Quanzhou grass fish has been recorded as early as the Han Dynasty. At that time, the masses planted rice in the fields, raised fish in the water body, fish manure fields, fish and rice symbiosis, fish and food coexisted, and improved the utilization rate of rice fields. There is a written record of Hehua carp as a special product of Quanzhou County in the seventh chapter of Economics of "Quanzhou and the Republic of China".
In 2012, Quanzhou Hehua fish obtained the protection of geographical indication registration of agricultural products, becoming the first local special product of Quanzhou County to pass the national geographical indication protection product. In November 2021, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced the sixth batch of China’s important agricultural cultural heritage list. Guangxi Northwest Guangxi Mountain Rice-fish Complex System was selected.Inside there are Quanzhou Hehua fish.
03
The fish has smooth flesh, few spines and soft bones, high protein content, and various methods. It can be used to cook soup with tofu and sauerkraut, it is a bowl of fresh and delicious sauerkraut tofu fish soup; it can be fried in oil pan until golden brown, with onions, ginger, tempeh, garlic, spicy strips and other auxiliary materials, sour and delicious Hehua fish can be served on the table; you can directly dry "it" to make dried hehua fish, which has a crisp taste and attractive aroma.
There is a proverb in the whole prefecture: "Hehua fish delivers wine, but you can't meet your opponent. Hehua fish delivers rice, and the rice pot is scratched." It is used to describe the realm of the deliciousness of hehua fish.
04
There are also many literati and interesting things about the shoflower fish. In ancient Jeonju, the shoho fish was listed as one of the "Three Wonders in the whole prefecture". During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Hehuayu and dried five-spice tofu entered the imperial dining room as tribute. Qing Dynasty scholar Jiang Qiling (a native of Quanzhou) once used a poem to sing the phoenix:
Tian's family invites guests to Qi Jingfei, and there are village lords who help drunk return.
In the fall into Qingxiang, full of salted soy sauce, all the carp fertilizer is lost in the flowers.
In 2014, the hot and sour Hehua fish was selected as one of the "20 Guangxi Guicai Specialties" list. At present, Hehua fish has become a famous specialty of Quanzhou County and one of the top ten famous agricultural products in Guilin. In many restaurants in Guangxi, Quanzhou Hehuayu has become a must-have dish. At present, the whole prefecture vigorously develops the cultivation of ecological grass fish in rice fields to help farmers effectively increase their income.
✍️Source: Guicai taste
Editor: Mo Yiyi
Review: Chen Qiping
