Guizhou Pickled Fish

Guizhou Pickled Fish

　　History: Originally known as "Cifish," pickled fish is a traditional dish beloved by the Dong people, with a history of over two hundred years. The *Guizhou General Gazetteer: Customs* records that the Dong people “regard the first day of the eleventh month in the lunar calendar as the New Year’s Day. On this day, they prepare wine, cured meat, and pickled fish to offer sacrifices to their ancestors, and spend the whole day playing bronze drums and blowing lusheng.” Pickled fish can be stored for a long time and has a distinctive flavor.

　　Characteristics: Made by pickling fresh fish. The finished dish features tender and juicy fish flesh, rich aroma, and deeply infused flavors.

　　Process: Kill carp or grass carp, remove the internal organs, and soak them in water. Clean the wooden barrel with leeks to disinfect and remove any woody smell. Mix glutinous rice, chili powder, rice wine, ginger, garlic, Sichuan peppercorns, saltpeter, and the brine from soaking the fish into a paste to make the pickling mash. Spread about 3.3 cm of this mash on the bottom of the barrel. Stuff an appropriate amount of the mash inside the fish belly and rub some on the skin. Immediately place the fish into the pickling barrel. For each layer of fish added, cover it with a layer of mash, press it down evenly by hand, then lay water yam leaves, palm leaves, or bamboo shoot husk leaves on top, followed by a layer of straw matting. Let it ferment for one month to complete the process.