Known for its bracing smell, fermented mandarin fish offers a unique and flavorful culinary experience. [Photo/WeChat account: huangshanribao]
Known as the "Hometown of Hui Cuisine," Huangshan city – located in East China's Anhui province – has witnessed impressive growth in its fermented mandarin fish industry in recent years.
The Hui cuisine of the region is one of China's eight famous cuisines.
Fermented mandarin fish stands as a hallmark of Hui cuisine, celebrated for its distinctive aroma and exquisite flavor.
Traditionally, making fermented mandarin fish was a labor-intensive process that required more than 30 steps, from selecting the fish to marinating it to cooking it.
But in recent years, Huangshan has been promoting the industrialization and mass production of fermented mandarin fish.
The city has established local and industry standards for processing and cooking the dish, improved the flavor of fermented mandarin fish, introduced modern production lines and built an e-commerce logistics platform.
By 2023, the city was home to more than 100 fermented mandarin fish processing companies, with an annual processing volume of nearly 55,000 tons and a production value of over 5 billion yuan ($690 million). The industry has also created more than 30,000 jobs.