Stinky Mandarin Fish

Stinky mandarin fish, also called cured-fresh mandarin fish, is made by salting fresh fish layer by layer in a wooden barrel weighted down and fermenting it for six or seven days before red-braising; the flesh breaks into garlic-clove-like flakes, firm and tender, with a distinctive fermented aroma.

It is said that Qing-dynasty Huizhou merchants, to carry river mandarin fish up the Xin'an River into the mountains, salted the fish in barrels for the journey; the slight fermentation on the road produced a dish that "smells foul yet tastes wonderful," evolving into a celebrated Hui dish that carries the travel and food memory of the Huizhou merchants.

Served whole, most often red-braised or dry-braised with winter bamboo shoots, sliced pork and garlic, diners lift the garlic-clove flakes and dip them in the sauce, where savour and a whisper of pungency meet; it is usually the centrepiece of a banquet.

The barrel-salting and fermentation, the garlic-clove flake of the flesh and the "foul yet wonderful" contrast are the unmistakable marks of stinky mandarin fish.