Sour Soup Fish

The dish comes in two forms—white sour soup (fermented rice water) or red sour soup (fermented tomato); fresh live fish simmers in the broth with houttuynia and wood ginger, yielding a tangy, spicy, savory soup with silky-tender fish.

Originating among Miao communities in southeast Guizhou, where ancestral fermentation preserved food, the dish evolved over centuries into one of Guizhou's most iconic regional dishes and is now ubiquitous in Guiyang restaurants.

Kept gently simmering at the table on a small burner; drink the broth first, then eat the fish, and finally cook rice or sweet-potato noodles in the remaining soup for a three-stage meal of remarkable depth.

Defined by naturally fermented tangy-aromatic broth and tender fish, it is one of Guizhou cuisine's most nationally recognized calling cards.