The tench is a high-quality freshwater farmed fish native to Europe

The tench, whose scientific name is Tinca tinca, belongs to the genus Tinca in the family Cyprinidae. It is a freshwater fish native to Europe, and it is now farmed artificially in ponds, lakes and other waters in China. Its appearance is somewhat similar to that of the crucian carp: the body is laterally compressed and thick, the body color is mostly yellowish brown or golden green, and the scales are small and deeply embedded in mucus-rich skin, making it feel very smooth to the touch.

This fish likes to inhabit the bottom layers of slow-flowing or still-water environments. Its ability to tolerate low oxygen and low temperatures is relatively outstanding, and it adapts strongly to changes in water quality. Its feeding habits tend toward omnivory: at the juvenile stage it mainly feeds on plankton, while adults consume aquatic insects, small benthic animals and plant debris; in artificial farming it also accepts compound feed quite well.

In farming, the tench can be raised as the main species in ponds, and it can also be polycultured with silver carp, bighead carp, grass carp and other species, which helps make use of water space and natural food resources. It grows at a moderate rate and has fairly strong disease resistance. In daily management, as long as attention is paid to regulating water quality and controlling stocking density well, relatively stable farming results can generally be achieved.

As food, the tench has delicate, tender flesh and a delicious flavor, with relatively few intermuscular bones. It is suitable for steaming, braising in soy sauce or making soup, and for cooking methods you can refer to the home-style way of steaming mandarin fish. In European folk tradition it is said that its mucus helps wounds heal, hence its common name of "doctor fish." Although this is a legend, it still shows how much people value this fish.

It should also be noted that the tench and the similarly named "gui fish" are not the same kind of fish. "Gui fish" usually refers to the mandarin fish, while the tench belongs to the Cyprinidae; the two differ clearly in body color, scales and body shape, and they can be distinguished by careful observation when purchasing.