Pigeon Fish

Pigeon Fish

　　　In the Yellow River within the territories of Zhongwei and Zhongning in Ningxia, there is a highly prized fish—the Pigeon Fish.

　　The Pigeon Fish has limited habitats and resembles a carp in shape, but it has a slender body and a pointed snout. It is caught using gillnets, and when stuck upright on the net, at first glance, it looks remarkably like a pigeon perched on a tree branch—hence its name.

　　The Yellow River Pigeon Fish belongs to the carp family. It grows to a length of 25–30 centimeters, has a plump belly, small eyes, and a body that is pale red and shiny, with a silvery-white luster. It has relatively few scales, tender flesh, and very few bones. When steamed, it emits a rich aroma and tastes deliciously fresh. In feudal times, during grand banquets held by royal courts and noble houses, whenever guests became heavily intoxicated, they would eat Pigeon Fish to sober up—and it worked remarkably well. During the Qing Dynasty, Ningxia once presented Pigeon Fish as a tribute to the imperial court. For this reason, it is also commonly known among the people as the “Imperial Fish.” A popular saying praises the Pigeon Fish: “Goose meat from the sky, chicken from the mountains—none can compare to the Pigeon Fish of the Yellow River.”

　　The Pigeon Fish is not abundant, which makes it very precious. It lives in the fast-flowing gorges of the Yellow River, making it very difficult to catch. In the bitter cold of winter, it sinks to the riverbed to hibernate; it awakens in early spring, spawns between March and April, and during the summer flood season when the Yellow River becomes especially murky, it is forced to surface for air—making this the best time for fishermen to catch it. The Pigeon Fish is deeply attached to its home waters; no matter how far it is carried away by the floods of the Yellow River, once it regains consciousness, it will swim long distances upstream against the current to return to its native place.