Everywhere you turn in Guizhou, you will inevitably encounter sour soup fish 酸汤鱼 shops or find it in restaurant menus.
That's great as it is so delicious!
Sour soup fish dish is a Miao tradition since time immemorial. No one is sure when it began.
There's a Miao saying "三天不吃酸，走路打罗圈" meaning three days without sour food, walk in circles i.e. loss of concentration and energy like the way we are when we go three days without caffeine 😂
The soul of the dish which is served like a hotpot is the sour soup. There are two versions, red and white.
The red sour soup is made with cherry tomatoes 毛辣果, chili pepper, aromatics (garlic, ginger) and peppercorn, etc. The mashed tomato, chili and spice concoction is fermented together for a month. The white soup is made with fermented rice.
(On a side note, the Hainanese also have a sour soup hotpot, made with fermented glutinous rice.)
I have only tried the red sour soup which is tangy spicy in a moderate way despite its fiery look. Guizhou palates are relatively mild compared to people from Southeast Asia. For me personally, the intensity is just right.
Traditionally, the meat for the dish comes from fish raised in the paddy fields at the villages. It's a form of scaly carp fish. The fish is not gutted but the bitter gall bladder is removed before throwing the fish directly into the boiling sour soup to cook.
At the restaurants, there are various options but all are freshwater fish from either river, pond or paddy field. Guizhou is a hilly landlocked province far from the sea.
Catfish is a popular choice in restaurants, which was what we had.
The catfish cut into meaty chunks was soft, sweet with a subtle earthiness which the sour spicy soup was more than capable of moderating / balancing.
The result was so delicious.
We were given leafy vegetables to cook in the sour soup like a hotpot. The cooked vegetables were tasty and gave the sour spicy soup a layer of sweet flavour.
Having visited China a few times before, I have learned to appreciate the taste and texture of river fish which I enjoy much.
Some other customers chose sliced beef.
When you come to Guizhou, a taste of sour soup fish is a must. It's delicious and a window into the life and culture of the Miao people through their food. And, who knows you may become addicted like me 😂
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Written by Tony Boey on 1 Dec 2024
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Their distinctive sourness come from the extreme fermentation method that force the ingredient to reach the fine line between spoilt or fermentation, that why there is also a tiny wiff of smelliness if you taste it carefully, I like it . Best pair with their local rice wine that you can opt for the unlimited stream where they feed you
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