Yichang kicks off Fatty Fish Festival
Yichang was awarded the title of "Landmark City of Yangtze River Catfish Delicacies" by the China Cuisine Association at the opening ceremony for the first Yichang Fatty Fish Festival held in Xiba Everbright City on May 19.
As an important event held during the 2023 Yichang City Brand Promotion Week, the festival aims to promote the city’s food culture and the "Yichang Fatty Fish" brand. Between May 19 and 20, 100 dishes of fatty fish were presented during the festival and a series of activities were held, including a fatty fish feast for thousands of attendees and a fatty fish food market.
Yangtze River catfish, commonly known as Yangtze fatty fish, is recognized as one of the "three delicacies of the Yangtze River" together with shad and saury, of which the ones found in the Yichang section of the Yangtze River are the most delicious.
Yichang Yangtze fatty fish can be recognized by their blue-gray back, white abdomen, and gray-black fins. Its flesh, thick and tender without inter-muscular spines, has a sweet and mellow taste. The soup made using Yichang Yangtze fatty fish is as white as a fine rice wine, palatable and refreshing.
Every spring, when groups of Yangtze River catfish migrate from the lower reaches to the open water area outside the Nanjin Pass in Yichang to spawn, their bodies store a large amount of fat that is prepared for the breeding season. This is where the word "fatty" in the name originates. Ye Qingnian, a Chinese culinary master and deputy director of the Yichang Famous Chef Committee, said that the secret to the delicious taste of Yichang Yangtze fatty fish lies in the distance of migration that the Yangtze River catfish travels to reach Yichang.
Catfish downstream from Yichang are too fat due to the shorter swimming distance, while those upstream of Yichang become too thin due to fat loss in the additional distance. Catfish in the Yichang section have been found to be the most delicious due to traveling the proper migration distance to reach the ideal fatty taste.
