Chinese Dishes and Their Stories: Five-Willow-leaf Fish

Many famous Chinese dishes have stories attached to them that are as enter-taining to diners as the dishes themselves are satisfying to the taste buds. Most of the stories involve noted figures in Chinese history.

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Wuliu Fish or Five-Willow-leaf Fish is a popular traditional dish in South  China’s Sichuan Province. It is said to have been invented by Du Fu,a famous poet  in the Tang Dynasty. That was in  760 when chaos  overran the country and life was terribly hard. One day, an old friend came to pay him a visit. Du Fu was delighted as it had been a long time  since they had  last seen each other.  But he was also worried that  he could not  afford a decent meal for his friend. By coincidence, a member of his family brought home a big carp caught in  a nearby stream. Du Fu was overjoyed.He went to the kitchen and cooked the fish himself. At dinner,his friend was amazed by the  delicious fish. He asked Du Fu what the dish  was called. Du Fu examined the fish carefully and noticed the colorful lines running along its back. They looked like  willow leaves, which gave him an idea for its name. “How about calling it Wuliu Fish?”  His friend  thought the name was very appropriate. Wuliu means five willow leaves. Later, When Du Fu became famous, the dish became popular in China. 

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