Jiangjin Pickled Vegetable Fish

Jiangjin Pickled Vegetable Fish

　　"Pickled Vegetable Fish" is a famous dish from Jiangjin, the hometown of Marshal Nie Rongzhen. Its founder, Zou Kaixi, was from Shuangfu Town. During the Republican era, his father worked as an itinerant rural chef, making a living by cooking for weddings and funerals in nearby villages. Later, having saved up some money, he opened a small roadside eatery on Jinfu Main Street, serving home-style dishes. After the reform and opening-up, Zou Kaixi, who had wandered far and wide, returned to his hometown and resumed his family’s culinary trade, thus continuing the Zou family’s tradition of cooking.

One summer day, he fished out some aged radishes from the pickled vegetable jar, sliced them, and cooked them together with crucian carp. Unexpectedly, this casual move caught the attention of passing drivers, who kept stopping their cars.

However, because the aged pickled radishes were soft and sour from years of soaking, most customers didn’t dare try them directly and only used them as seasoning.

After much deliberation, Zou Kaixi decided to switch to the leafy greens that every household was pickling at the time. Later, he also replaced crucian carp with grass carp—the fish slices became more tender and came without the hassle of removing bones.

In 1982, Zou Kaixi launched his eatery under the name "Zou's Fish Restaurant," specializing in grass carp. It then took over a year to finalize the cooking method, which has remained unchanged ever since. After running the business for several years, he expanded to Shuanghechang and renamed the place from "Zou's Fish Restaurant" to Zou Kaixi Pickled Vegetable Fish. From then on, "Zou Kaixi Pickled Vegetable Fish" was officially born. Today, it is recognized as a classic dish in Sichuan cuisine and is included in the book *The Geography of Chinese Cuisine*. Branches of Zou Kaixi Pickled Vegetable Fish can be found all over China, and countless celebrities, including the famous actor Ge You, have made special trips to enjoy his signature dish.