China News Agency, Huangshan, Anhui, September 1st telegram: Anhui Caitou Brand Stinky Mandarin Fish: Smelly but beautiful, there is a reason for it

　　Author Cheng Zhanpeng

　　"It smells stinky, but it tastes delicious. Use chopsticks to open the fish, and the fish is in the shape of garlic cloves, piece by piece, very tender and delicious." This is the description of the stinky mandarin fish in the food documentary "China on the Tip of the Tongue" .

　　During the Mengqiu season, in the century-old Ziyun Restaurant in Tunxi District, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, Zhong Shaohua, the master of Chinese Anhui cuisine and inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of stinky mandarin fish skills, is busy making stinky mandarin fish for diners.

The day was full, and more than 20 boxes all ordered this famous dish.

　　Walking into the Hui restaurant, stinky mandarin fish is one of the first choices of many diners.

Zhong Shaohua believes that this dish contains the idea of ​​Yin and Yang in Chinese Taoism.

The smell of stinky mandarin fish resides in the smell.

Just like the joys and sorrows of life, there is joy in the pain, and there is pain in the joy.

Eating Anhui cuisine stinky mandarin fish can taste a hundred flavors of life.

　　"Huangshan has five specials: strange pines, strange rocks, sea of ​​clouds, hot springs, and winter snow. We should add one more -- stinky mandarin fish, which smells really fragrant." Mr. Su, who came to Huangshan for tourism, said after tasting the stinky mandarin fish.

　　"Peach Blossom Flowing Water Mandarin Fish Fat", mandarin fish is the plumpest and freshest only in March and April every year, when the peach blossoms are in full bloom.

Therefore, the marinating time of stinky mandarin fish varies in four seasons.

According to different temperature and humidity, according to the time.

　　During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Hui merchants who went out hoped to bring fresh mandarin fish from the Yangtze River to their families to taste. In order to overcome the problem of food spoilage, the fish was preserved by pickling and fermentation.

The salted mandarin fish needs to be put into local fir barrels and pressed with pebbles.

　　As a result, stinky mandarin fish, an iconic Huizhou food, has been gradually created, with a history of nearly 300 years.

　　Zhong Shaohua said that the most important step in making stinky mandarin fish is pickling, especially to control the temperature and humidity. During the natural fermentation process, it is easy to rot and deteriorate when the temperature is high, and it will become salted fish when the temperature is low.

　　He explained: "The smell of stinky mandarin fish is the smell of an amino acid converted from the protein of the fish after it has been pickled, which is completely different from the smell of decay."

　　"Smelly but beautiful, there is a reason for everything."

In fact, Chinese people like to eat smelly food, it's not trendy.

In "Lv's Spring and Autumn Period, Original Taste", there have been some descriptions of smelly food.

The stinky mandarin fish, which is well-known as "stinky", embodies a kind of dietary wisdom of the Chinese.

　　The masters of Anhui cuisine have improved it again and have more innovations in the practice. They have launched dry pot stinky mandarin fish, hamburger stinky mandarin fish, sauce-flavored stinky mandarin fish, and pit-scented mandarin fish to cater to the tastes of young people. .

　　"The smell is deep enough to know the fragrance", according to the big data on the development of China's Huizhou stinky mandarin fish industry released by the Huangshan Catering and Cooking Industry Association at the end of 2021: The annual output value of Huizhou stinky mandarin fish in Huangshan City is about 4 billion yuan, driving more than 50,000 jobs. people.

The products are exported to Southeast Asia, Europe, America, Japan and other places, "capturing" the taste buds of many diners.

　　Zhong Shaohua said that with the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce and the application of fresh-keeping cold chain technology, stinky mandarin fish can "swim" farther.

He believes that "the century-old Anhui cuisine 'going to the sea' has a promising prospect".

　　Today, Zhong Shaohua runs 3 Anhui restaurants and a stinky mandarin fish production enterprise, with annual sales of nearly one million stinky mandarin fish.

　　"It is my natural responsibility and lifelong career to continue to develop the stinky mandarin fish skill that has been passed down for a century," said Zhong Shaohua.

(Finish)