Plenty More Fish: Pick It, Cook It, Eat It

That picnic-basket-snatching rascal Yogi Bear is known for chanting, “Fish is my favorite dish. My favorite dish is fish.” While his rhymes aren’t exactly inspired, the bear’s got a point. He’d probably like Honghuo Bainian, which imports a variety of the slippery beasts from the Chaoshan region of Guangdong province. They do it dapaidang style, which mimics the food stalls that line the alleys of so many Chinese cities. As you walk in, servers wave you toward an island in the center set up with photo placards of dishes and plenty of seafood on ice. It’s the kind of ordering where you point and nod and hope it lands on your table without incident.

Prices start with the “chicken drumstick fish” (jitui yu 鸡腿鱼) for RMB 10/jin or the Pacific saury (qiudao yu 秋刀鱼) for RMB 18/jin, all the way up to the protein-packed “red-eye, red-scale fish” (红目鳞鱼) for RMB 98/jin. When picking, look for glossy surfaces and clear, glassy eyes. As we were there for a late dinner, we excused the fish for not all looking Tsukiji-market fresh, but some were in better shape than others. Depending on what you order, you can have the fish prepared a few different ways (e.g. fried whole, fried in fillets, steamed).

We settled on fried “tofu fish” (doufu yu 豆腐鱼, RMB 48/jin), which arrived as a mound of fluffy golden nuggets. True to its name, the fish was almost disturbingly tender. If you prefer your seafood with an exoskeleton, Honghuo also offers poached snails (RMB 78), shrimp (flash-boiled or salt-baked on chuanr sticks) and lobster (market price).

It gets expensive filling up on treasures of the sea, so we suggest padding your meal with some changfen rice noodles (RMB 12). The egg, shrimp and pickled vegetable that came wrapped in our pliant, tender noodle sheets made for some ethereal eating.

True to its southern Chinese roots, Honghuo offers a selection of drinks like chrysanthemum tea, winter melon juice and sugarcane juice in those nostalgic yet infuriating little boxes. Neighboring tables decanted multiple bottles of wine, too, so don’t be shy about going banquet-style on your companions.

Honghuo Bainian Seafood 红火百年潮汕渔家大排档 Daily 10.30am-10pm. Bldg 3, Yard 3, Wanghua Lu Dongli (near Guangshun Nandajie), Chaoyang District (6470 8658) 朝阳区望花路东里3号院3号楼(广顺南 大街口)

By subway: 1.3km southeast of Wangjing station (Line 15)

This article originally appeared on page 31 of the January issue of the Beijinger.

Photo: Sui