酸菜鱼, photo 1 of 2
酸菜鱼, photo 2 of 2
Typical photo

Photo credit

Photo
酸菜鱼 Preserved Mustard Green with Fish - Charming Spice AUD24.80 (4104355401)
By
Alpha from Melbourne, Australia
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.0
Source
Wikimedia Commons
Changes
Cropped and resized

Photo credit

Photo
Suancaiyu rice value-set at Hehegu, Dongzhimen (20211220172415)
By
N509FZ
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Source
Wikimedia Commons
Changes
Cropped and resized

酸菜鱼

酸菜魚
suāncàiyú
noun Spice varies

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 pickled cabbage fish
  2. 2 fish with pickled mustard greens

About the dish

川菜 Sichuan · 热菜 Hot dish

Thin slices of fish, often grass carp, in a sour broth of pickled mustard greens with chili and Sichuan pepper. Sour more than hot. The fish has small bones, and pieces of head and backbone are often in the pot.

Usually contains fish

Examples

HSK 1
Jīntiān wǒmen qù chī suāncàiyú ba.
Let's go eat pickled cabbage fish today.
HSK 4
Zhè jiā diàn de suāncàiyú yòu suān yòu là, tèbié xiàfàn.
This place's suancaiyu is sour and spicy - perfect with rice.

Tips

culture
酸菜鱼 originated in Chongqing/Sichuan in the 1980s and rode the chain-restaurant boom (太二, 鱼你在一起) into a nationwide staple. The fish is typically grass carp (草鱼) sliced thin; the sourness comes from fermented mustard greens, the heat from pickled chilies and Sichuan peppercorns.

Stroke Order

酸 suān
菜 cài
鱼 yú