In Tanshan Village of Yizhang County, Chenzhou City, rice flower carps can be harvested. 

 

The delicious rice flower carps have attracted many tourists, which not only makes rural tourism popular but also fills the villagers’ pockets with money.

 

In early autumn, in the terraced fields, as rice ears sway in the wind, the fragrance of rice flowers fill the air. After draining the water, villagers roll up their pants and start catching fish in the field. Everyone overflows with the joy of harvest.

 

 

Tanshan Village is about 800 meters above sea level, with beautiful mountains and clear waters, pleasant climate. It is shrouded by clouds and mist all year round. The history of raising fish in rice fields is long-standing.

 

Every May, the villagers put fish fry into the rice fields, and then catch the fish in the autumn. Because the fish feed on rice flowers, the cooked fresh fish has a light fragrance of rice flowers, and the meat is tender and sweet. 

 

At this time of year, nearby merchants and tourists will come to catch or taste the fish. The fish is always in short supply.

 

 

The most common way to cook rice flower fish is to braise it with loofah or steam it with bacon. 

 

Put the fish in the oil and fry until both sides are slightly burnt, then add boiledwater until the fish soup turns white. Add home-grown loofah till the liquids are reduced, or use bacon to enhance the flavor. The cooked fish has crispy skins, few bones and more meat, and a fresh and tender taste.

 

Early in the morning, villager Xiao Yifang took her children home to eat fish, but found that all the fish had been ordered by tourists. So she helped her mother and greeted the guests. Xiao Yifang told reporters that because everyone knows it tastes good, and the fish caught that day was not enough to sell.

 

A small rice field can increase a family’s income by tens of thousands of yuan each year. The fish not only brings money for the necessities of life for a family, but also a delicious dish when welcoming relatives and friends back home. 

 

 

It is the taste of hometown in the memories of people. Every year when it’s time to catch rice flower carps, parents will call their children back home to eat fish and reunite.

 

Currently, the village has developed more than 900 mu (about 60 hectares) of rice fields for breeding rice flower carps, with an annual output of more than 8,000 catties

and an annual output value of more than 400,000 yuan, driving an average annual increase of more than 2,000 yuan in household income. 

 

In recent years, villagers have developed experience-based rural tourism due to the fame of rice flower carps. When it’s time for the fish harvest, the village will be teeming with tourists.