steamed Wuchang fish

spicy fried Wuchang fish

Wuchang fish, known as "Tuantoufang (blunt-snout bream), is a kind of bream, originally produced in the Liangzi Lake of Echeng County in Hubei Province. It has been transplanted and fed around China.

The Liangzi Lake covers an area of 420,000 mu (1 mu = 1/15 hectare) with a vast expanse of lucid, misty waters, and abundant nutriments. It is one of the ten famous lakes in China, the second biggest freshwater lake of Hubei Province and also the mother lake of Wuchang fish.

It is said that Wuchang fish got its name during the Three Kingdoms Period (221BC-256AD). Wuchang fish has a rich content of historical culture, and is one of the famous traditional products of Wuhan City. In one of his poems, Mao Zedong said with pleasure, No sooner had I drank water from the Xiang River than I savored Wuchang fish."

Wuchang fish, fed on float grass, has a shape of compressed rhombus, with round head, thick body, wide snout, short back fin, and raised tail. It has fourteen ribs, one more than other bream.

With delicate meat and plenty of fat, Wuchang fish can be cooked into many kinds of courses by different ways, of which steam in clear soup has the best flavor. Its fish is rich in protein and fat, and has high medicinal value on preventing anemia, hypertension and so on.