Black Crucian Carp from Shanpo Lake

Black Crucian Carp from Shanpo Lake

Black Crucian Carp from Shanpo Lake is a protected geographical indication product.

　　Black Crucian Carp from Shanpo Lake is a specialty of Shanpo Lake in Anxiang County, Changde City, Hunan Province. Known in ancient times as "fu yu" (crucian carp), it was called "Anxiang Crucian Carp" during the Qing Dynasty and served as a tribute. The fish has tender flesh, a delicious taste, and produces a milky-white broth.

　　Shanpo Lake is located in Anfeng Township, Anxiang County, Changde City, Hunan Province, to the northwest of the Anbao Dike Area. It is a natural lake with a history of over 2,000 years. The implementation of garden-style farmland in the Anbao Dike Area and the construction of electric drainage systems have made Shanpo Lake even more beautiful and magnificent. Hardened water channels, cement-paved slopes, willows swaying gently, and shimmering blue waters have turned it into a popular tourist destination. Drainage ditches have been dug around the lake to isolate it from wastewater. Fish farms are equipped with filtration devices, and waste water is directed into low-level drainage canals, then pumped out by electric pumps or used to irrigate fields. This area has become an exceptionally suitable base for the ecological farming of freshwater fish.

　　Black Crucian Carp from Shanpo Lake was known in ancient times as "fu yu" (crucian carp) and as "Anxiang Crucian Carp" during the Qing Dynasty. The "Lüshi Chunqiu" (Spring and Autumn Annals of Lü Buwei) states: "The most delicious fish come from the crucian carp of Dongting Lake." The "Changde Prefecture Records" from the Jiaqing era of the Qing Dynasty note: "Among all fish, the crucian carp is the most palatable." The fish has a plump body and a bluish color, living at the bottom of the water, commonly referred to as "green-shelled crucian carp" or "sticky rice crucian carp." Locals call it black crucian carp. It has tender flesh, a delicious taste, and produces a milky-white broth. Tests show that every 100 grams of its meat contains up to 20 grams of protein, 1,335 milligrams of calcium, 218 milligrams of taurine, and 1.7 grams of unsaturated fatty acids, including 0.12 grams of DHA, accounting for 7%. Four types of umami amino acids—aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, and alanine—make up 42.3% of the total 15 amino acids. During the Qing Dynasty, Shanpo Lake Crucian Carp was served as a tribute. In 1971, when Chairman Mao Zedong returned to Hunan for an inspection, he also tasted Black Crucian Carp from Shanpo Lake.

　　The production area of Black Crucian Carp from Shanpo Lake covers Shanpo Lake and its surrounding waters in Anxiang County, Hunan Province, totaling 100,000 mu.