Sweet-and-Sour Yellow River Carp

Sweet-and-sour carp is a traditional Jinan dish using carp from the Yellow River just north of the city. The fish is fried crisp and glazed in a sweet-and-sour sauce, often plated leaping like a carp at the dragon gate.

With the Yellow River close by, Jinan's carp is plump and tender; the dish grew from this local catch and has long stood as a signature of Jinan and of Shandong cuisine.

It is usually presented whole as a banquet centrepiece and eaten hot, the crisp sauce-coated skin enjoyed first, then the delicate flesh beneath.

Recognize it by the whole fish standing in a lively pose, the bright sweet-and-sour glaze, and the contrast of crisp skin against tender flesh.