Chongqing-Wanzhou Grilled Fish (烤鱼) — A Whole Fish Grilled, Then Simmered in Málà Broth

Q: What do I choose when ordering Chongqing grilled fish?

Three things. One, the fish — tilapia is the most popular because it's large, the flesh comes off the bone easily and it's less muddy than most freshwater fish; grass carp and catfish are the other common picks. Two, the spice level — 微辣 mild, 中辣 medium, or 特辣 extra-hot. Three, the flavour style — 麻辣 classic numbing-spicy, 泡椒 sour pickled-pepper, 豆豉 deep fermented black bean, or 香辣 fragrant-spicy with less numbing. Big chains often offer around ten flavour styles, including a non-spicy mushroom-herb broth.

Know it before you eat it

烤鱼 — grilled fish that doesn't stop at the grill

Picture a wide, shallow pan set over a small burner in the middle of the table. In it, a whole fish lies half-buried under a hill of red dried chillies, Sichuan peppercorns and spring onion, in a red oil that's gently bubbling and throwing off a fragrant, fiery smell before you've even picked up your chopsticks. This is 烤鱼 (kǎoyú) — Chongqing-Wanzhou grilled fish, and it is not the plain grilled fish you might be expecting.

The difference is right here: ordinary grilled fish finishes on the fire, but Chongqing grilled fish has two stages that turn it into a centrepiece. First the whole fish is grilled on a rack until it's about 90% cooked and the skin smells of smoke. Then it's transferred to a shallow pan and the málà (麻辣) broth goes in — simmered from Chongqing chilli-bean paste (doubanjiang), garlic, ginger, dried chilli, chicken fat and fresh stock — and the whole thing keeps cooking on a burner in front of you. The fish ends up carrying both the smoke of the grill and the soak of a spicy broth at once: three techniques in one dish — marinate, grill, simmer.

The dish comes from Wanzhou (万州), a district of Chongqing split down the middle by the Yangtze River. In the late Qing dynasty, fishermen along the Yangtze worked out this "grill-then-simmer" method to make a fresh catch taste better and keep longer, and Wanzhou became known as "the hometown of grilled fish in China." And because Chongqing is the capital of hotpot and the home of málà, throwing hotpot-style toppings into the grilled-fish pan was the most natural move in the world.

Build your own fish

Ordering grilled fish — what you get to choose

Chongqing grilled fish is a dish you design yourself — three layers of choice decide exactly how the meal turns out.

A whole Chongqing grilled fish in a shallow pan, buried under dried chillies, Sichuan peppercorns and spring onion in a bubbling red málà broth

Pick the fish

选鱼 · tilapia · grass carp · catfish

The most popular choice is tilapia (罗非鱼), because it's large, the flesh is thick, it comes off the bone easily and it's less muddy than most freshwater fish — the best pick for a first-timer. Next come grass carp (草鱼), softer and sweeter in a traditional way, and catfish (鲶鱼), silky and free of fiddly small bones. Most places let you pick a live fish from the tank and price it by weight.

Start here: tilapia — fewer bones, more flesh, works with any flavour

Price: ¥60–120 per fish (~฿300–600), by weight

Tip: a bigger fish feeds more people; a medium one suits 2–3

🌶️2

Pick the spice level

微辣 → 中辣 → 特辣 · mild to extra-hot

A fair warning: Chongqing's málà runs hotter than many people expect. The heat of the chilli (辣) comes paired with a tingling, numbing buzz on the tongue from Sichuan peppercorn (麻). If you're not a big chilli eater, order 微辣 (mild) to be safe; 中辣 is a solid middle ground; and 特辣 (extra-hot) is for the genuinely heat-seeking. Staff at many places will ask your level when you order — answer in Chinese or just point.

First-timers: start with 微辣 (wēi là) — fragrant heat that's still fun

Remember: 麻 = numbing · 辣 = burning — málà is both at once

Backup: order plain rice or a cold drink to cut the heat

🍲3

Pick the flavour style

麻辣 · 泡椒 · 豆豉 · 香辣 · around 10 styles

This is the fun layer — the flavour style sets the whole personality of the dish. 麻辣 (málà) is the classic, numbing and fiery at full tilt. 泡椒 (pickled pepper) is sour and bright, cutting the richness with a little less heat. 豆豉 (fermented black bean) brings a deep, savoury funk. And 香辣 (xiāng là) is fragrant-spicy with less of the numbing tingle. Big chains like 探鱼 offer around ten styles, including a non-spicy 菌菇 (mushroom-herb) broth for anyone who can't take chilli at all.

First time: 麻辣, to meet the original flavour

Not a chilli fan: 泡椒 (sour) or 菌菇 (mushroom, non-spicy)

Want it deep: 豆豉, fermented black bean at full funk

🥔4

Toppings under the broth

配菜 · potato · tofu skin · enoki · lotus root

Don't overlook what's sitting under the fish — these are the quiet stars. Sliced potato, tofu skin (豆皮), enoki mushrooms, lotus root, wood-ear, bean sprouts and konjac (魔芋) soak in the spicy broth and drink up the flavour until they're as good as the fish. Plenty of people will tell you the broth-soaked potato and tofu skin are the best bite of the whole pan. Once the fish is gone but the broth is still bubbling, you can order vegetables or noodles to cook in it, just like a hotpot.

Don't miss: potato + tofu skin — they soak up the broth best

Price: toppings around ¥8–20 a plate (~฿40–100)

Keep going: drop noodles or greens into the leftover broth

How it compares to Chongqing hotpot: grilled fish and hotpot (火锅) share the same málà flavour, but with hotpot you dunk raw ingredients and cook them yourself, while with grilled fish the fish arrives already grilled and seasoned — you just eat it with the toppings in the broth. It's a one-dish meal with no timing to judge, which makes it an easier way into Chongqing flavour than a full hotpot.

Eat it like a local

How a grilled-fish meal actually goes

How to order, how to eat

Start at the fish tank — pick a live fish and have it weighed, then tell the staff three things: the type of fish, the spice level and the flavour style. After that you choose the toppings to go in the pan. Every fish is grilled to order, so expect to wait around 15–30 minutes — order snacks or drinks while you wait.

When the fish arrives, it sits over a gentle burner that keeps it bubbling all meal. Eat the fish first, while the flesh is firm, then move on to the broth-soaked toppings. The longer it cooks, the richer the broth gets — and once the fish is finished, order more vegetables, tofu or noodles to simmer in the same broth.

Group size: a medium fish plus 3–4 toppings is right for 2–3 people · a bigger group orders a larger fish and more toppings · cost per meal: two or three people with rice usually lands around ¥120–200 (~฿600–1,000).

Paying — set it up first

Almost every grilled-fish place in Chongqing runs on WeChat Pay and Alipay. Some chain branches in malls take cash in yuan, but foreign credit cards usually don't work. The easiest move is to link a Visa/Mastercard to Alipay or WeChat through the foreign-traveller mode before you go.

Many local spots have no English menu, but most have a picture menu or flavour-style boards you can point at. For the most traditional version, look for a shopfront with the characters 万州烤鱼 (Wanzhou grilled fish) — a sign it's cooking the original recipe.

Where to eat

Grilled-fish spots — easy to find across the city

Chongqing has grilled-fish restaurants in nearly every neighbourhood — reliable big chains are easy to find in malls, while local spots hide down lanes and along the riverside.

探鱼 (Tanyu)

Grilled-fish chain · around 10 flavour styles · branches nationwide

If it's your first time in Chongqing and you want grilled fish without any guesswork, Tanyu is a safe place to start — a chain known for playful interiors and around ten flavour styles, from classic málà to pickled pepper and a non-spicy mushroom broth. The picture menu is clear and easy to order from, which suits anyone not yet used to ordering the local way. You'll find branches in big malls across the city.

Find it: major shopping malls across Chongqing (check Amap / Dianping for the nearest)
Price: ¥80–130/person (~฿400–650) · takes WeChat Pay / Alipay · allow waiting time at dinner

半天妖 (Bantianyao)

Value-focused grilled-fish chain · hundreds of branches

The fastest-growing grilled-fish chain in China, built on value — fresh fish and a full set of toppings at prices friendlier than a sit-down restaurant. It's a good call for a meal with friends or family where you want to eat well without spending much. The core flavour styles are all there: málà, pickled pepper and fermented black bean. The rooms are simple, keeping the focus on the food.

Find it: malls and shopping districts across Chongqing (check Amap / Dianping)
Price: ¥60–110/person (~฿300–550) · takes WeChat Pay / Alipay

江边城外 (Riverside Grilled Fish)

Founded 2005 · original Chongqing-style grilled fish

Started by two friends who came across the grill-then-málà method while travelling through Wushan in Chongqing, then opened a restaurant on it in 2005 — the name translates roughly as "outside the city, by the river," a nod to the dish's riverside roots. It leans toward larger fish and a rich, concentrated broth, and it's another chain that Chinese diners know well, with branches in several cities.

Find it: big malls in Chongqing and other major cities (check Amap / Dianping)
Price: ¥90–150/person (~฿450–750) · takes WeChat Pay / Alipay

Local spots signed 万州烤鱼

Lanes and riverside · original flavour, local prices

Beyond the chains, Chongqing is full of small local grilled-fish places where the people nearby actually eat. Look for a sign reading 万州烤鱼 (Wanzhou grilled fish) down residential lanes or along the river. These places usually have no English menu and a homely feel, but they deliver the original flavour at local prices. Point at a fish in the tank, name your spice level, and let the kitchen handle the rest — it often turns into the meal you remember.

Find it: residential lanes · near markets · along the Yangtze / Jialing rivers
Price: ¥50–100/person (~฿250–500) · mostly WeChat Pay / Alipay or cash

Frequently asked

FAQ · what to know before eating Chongqing grilled fish

How is Chongqing grilled fish (烤鱼) different from ordinary grilled fish?

Ordinary grilled fish finishes on the fire — once it's cooked, it's served. Chongqing-Wanzhou grilled fish has two stages: the whole fish is first grilled until about 90% cooked and the skin is fragrant, then it's moved to a shallow pan and bathed in a málà broth simmered from chilli-bean paste (doubanjiang), garlic, ginger and dried chilli, and set on a tableside burner to keep bubbling. The fish ends up carrying both the smoke of the grill and the soak of a spicy broth in one dish.

Why is it called "Wanzhou" grilled fish (万州烤鱼)?

Wanzhou (万州) is a district of Chongqing split down the middle by the Yangtze River. The "grill-then-simmer" method was born here in the late Qing dynasty, when fishermen along the Yangtze found a way to cook a fresh catch so it tasted better and kept longer. Wanzhou is known as "the hometown of grilled fish in China." Restaurants standardised the modern version in the 1980s, it spread across Chongqing through the 1990s, and chains carried it nationwide in the 2000s.

What do I choose when ordering Chongqing grilled fish?

Three things — the fish (tilapia is the favourite: large, easy to bone, less muddy than most freshwater fish; grass carp and catfish are the other common picks), the spice level (微辣 mild → 中辣 medium → 特辣 extra-hot), and the flavour style — 麻辣 numbing-spicy, 泡椒 sour pickled-pepper, 豆豉 fermented black bean, or 香辣 fragrant-spicy with less numbing. Big chains often offer around ten styles, including a non-spicy mushroom broth.

What goes in the grilled-fish pan besides the fish?

The heart of the dish is the toppings sitting under the fish in the broth — sliced potato, tofu skin (豆皮), enoki mushrooms, lotus root, wood-ear, bean sprouts and konjac (魔芋). They soak up the spicy broth until they're as good as the fish itself; many people say the broth-soaked potato and tofu skin are the best part. Most places let you keep adding toppings like a hotpot, and once the fish is gone you can drop in vegetables or noodles to cook in the leftover broth.

How much does Chongqing grilled fish cost, and how many people does it feed?

The whole fish is usually priced by weight, starting around ¥60–120 (~฿300–600) per fish depending on type and size, plus toppings at ¥8–20 (~฿40–100) a plate. A grilled-fish meal for two or three with toppings and rice typically lands around ¥120–200 (~฿600–1,000). It's a centrepiece built for sharing — it works for two, but it's best value with a bigger group because you can order a wider spread of toppings.

Where should I eat Chongqing grilled fish?

Grilled-fish restaurants are in nearly every part of Chongqing, from small local spots to big chains easy to find in malls. Popular nationwide chains include 探鱼 (Tanyu), with around ten flavour styles; 半天妖 (Bantianyao), a value-focused chain with hundreds of branches; and 江边城外 (Riverside Grilled Fish), founded in 2005. For the most traditional flavour, look for a shopfront signed 万州烤鱼. Most take WeChat Pay / Alipay, and allow 15–30 minutes since every fish is grilled to order. See our Chongqing food guide to plan the rest of your meals.

Chongqing food guide

10 must-eats — hotpot, xiaomian, chilli chicken, grilled fish and more

View →

Chongqing hotpot

Beef-tallow málà broth, the nine-grid pot, the sesame-oil dip — the hotpot capital

View →

Jianghu cuisine

Chilli chicken, maoxuewang, boiled fish in chilli oil — rustic, bold, no fuss

View →

Chongqing travel guide

Hongyadong, the train through the building, the river cableway · stay and see

View →