Āpéng jiāng yú, tànhuǒ yī wǎng; yúxiān yī kǒu, jiāngfēng yī lǐ. — Apeng river fish, one net of charcoal; one mouth of fish freshness, a whole li of river flavour.
Apeng River grilled fish (阿蓬江烤鱼, Āpéng Jiāng Kǎoyú) is the county’s fish dish, named for the river that supplies it: a whole fish grilled over charcoal and finished on the table’s heat with the sauce, following the regional canon that the county shares with its Yangtze-side neighbours. The Apeng is a mountain river, and its fish are the smaller, firmer river species — which is why the local cooking leans on the charcoal and the sauce rather than the fish’s bulk.
The county’s fish houses price by weight after you choose the live fish, and the Apeng’s catch is a daily trade rather than a menu constant — the species on offer move with the season. The charcoal-first method is the local standard, and the correct accompaniment is the county’s potato and konjac, which take the reduced sauce. Locals pair the grilled fish with the chicken offal for the full county table.
flowcloud would say that the county’s river gives the fish and the mountain gives the potatoes — and that the grill is where the two counties’ geography gets introduced.
Where to find it: the county’s fish houses, where you choose the live fish and pay by weight. All checked October 2026.
Words and Names
阿蓬江 Āpéng Jiāng — the Apeng River, the fish’s source · 烤鱼 kǎoyú — grilled fish · 炭火 tànhuǒ — charcoal fire, the first cook · 河鱼 héyú — river fish, the mountain-river species