The Southern Fish Brings Soul-Affirming Hunanese to Xicheng

By Noelle Mateer

Xicheng district is a centuries-old concrete jungle, but there are mighty trend-setting restaurants hidden among it still. Restaurants worth the 50-minute Mobike ride from Sanlitun in blistering heat. Restaurants worth convincing your friends to do the bike ride with you. And restaurants worth, in the case of one of our friends, severe gastrointestinal distress the following day.*

“No, really, don’t worry about me,” she tells us. “It was totally worth it. I loved that egg thing.”

Ah, yes, the Egg Thing. The Southern Fish serves a variety of fiery Hunanese dishes in its slick new Baitasi location – but the best, hands down, is the Egg Thing (RMB39), whose actual name, ‘mashed peppers and preserved egg,’ hardly sounds appetizing. Nor does it look especially appetizing – the Egg Thing is a neon green goop, a slobbery mush with the occasional black, preserved egg poking through.

And yet it is the most mind-blowing, transformative and, frankly, tasty goop we’ve ever had. This is no small statement, mind you, because green goop is having a moment. Millennials across the globe are putting mushy avocados on everything, to the extent that That’s Beijing’s very own millennial restaurant reviewers took one look at The Southern Fish’s dining room and asked, “Is everyone having guacamole?”

No, it is something infinitely better than guacamole; it is spicy peppers and fermented egg. It’s from Hunan province, as was Chairman Mao, who was once quoted as saying, “If you're afraid of eating peppers, how can you be brave enough to fight the enemy?” Take that, hipsters – try spreading proletarian revolution on your organic whole-grain toast.
     

In case we haven’t convinced you to travel to Baitasi yet, allow us to happily report that everything else on The Southern Fish’s menu is just as inspiring and satisfying and mind-boggling and soul-affirmingly good.

Even the unassuming baby bok choy (RMB37) is cooked in spices that lend it surprising notes of complexity. But the star dish is the duojiao yutou (RMB108) – an iconic Hunanese fish head drenched in peppers and pickles. Sure, foreigners love Sichuan food – the spice is tingly! how fun! – but The Southern Fish will have you believing that the acidic, dry-heat Hunan peppers are truly where it’s at.

OK, fine, we hear you, Southern Fish truthers: The Southern Fish isn’t technically new. They opened a boutique in Dashilar two years ago. But their new location – a streamlined, ultra-modern reinterpretation of a hutong courtyard, is not only worthy of a mention in our New Restaurants section – it’d also be a solid candidate for our Interiors pages. More importantly, The Southern Fish is the sh*t.

And if that doesn’t convince you to bike 50 minutes from Sanlitun, well, we don’t know what will.

*The Southern Fish is squeaky clean – we conclude that our friend’s discomfort is a result of visiting from the US and not being used to spicy dishes.

49 Gongmenkou Toutiao, Xicheng 西城区宫门口头条49号 (8306 3022)

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