🍽️ Sour Soup Fish

Miao-style sour soup with fresh fish, tangy and appetizing.

Sour soup fish is a landmark of Guiyang and the Miao regions of Guizhou. A red sour soup fermented from tomato and rice broth forms the base, into which fresh river fish is cooked with litsea (wild pepper), garlic sprouts, tofu and wild greens. The broth is red, bright and tangy; the fish tender and non-fishy, sour with a spicy edge that wakes the appetite. Guizhou sour soup prizes natural fermentation, acidic without being astringent. After the fish, the broth is used to cook noodles or soak rice, a Miao custom. A signature of Guiyang banquets and Qian-style restaurants, tangy-warm and good year-round, it deepens in aroma the longer it simmers.