Abstract: This study aimed to investigate the impact of various curing and fermentation processes on the quality of stinky mandarin fish. Three curing methods—dry, wet, and rapid curing—were employed, and the sensory quality, physical and chemical characteristics and flavor characteristics of the fermented fish were assessed post-fermentation and maturation. The findings revealed that wet curing resulted in the highest moisture content, which was not significantly different from that achieved by rapid curing. Conversely, dry curing produced the lowest moisture content but the highest levels of ash and protein. The fat content remained consistent across all three methods. Additionally, the flaky flesh of the stinky mandarin fish pickled by three methods had no obvious differences in appearance. The brightness and whiteness of the fish body pickled by dry salting were the lowest, presenting a dark yellow color. The fish body pickled by wet salting was relatively white, and the fish body pickled by quick pickling was relatively ruddy. The color of the quick pickled ones was significantly higher than that of the other two groups. However, the sensory score of the dry pickled ones were the highest, and their odor, tissue state and taste were significantly better than those of the wet pickled and quick pickled ones. In this study, it was observed that wet curing resulted in the most intense flavor profile, followed by dry and rapid curing methods. The predominant odor constituents were identified as aromatic and alcohol compounds, which contributed to the distinctive aroma of stinky mandarin fish. Compared with wet curing and rapid curing, the findings indicated that dry curing preserved the highest concentrations of umami, sweet, and bitter amino acids, as well as the total free amino acids, suggesting superior amino acid retention. The dry-cured fish exhibited greater hardness relative to other curing methods and also showed the highest levels of total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), with a value of 2.80 mg/kg, comparable to wet curing but exceeding that of rapid curing. Additionally, the nitrite concentration in dry-cured fish was measured at 25.1 mg/kg, which was within the safety threshold of 30 mg/kg. In terms of microbiological quality, the total viable counts (TVC) of the rapid curing method was the lowest, followed by the dry curing method, and the wet curing method was the highest. Overall, dry curing was found to produce stinky mandarin fish of superior quality compared to wet and rapid curing techniques. This paper studies the pickling process of stinky mandarin fish, providing a certain theoretical basis for the processing and regulation of stinky mandarin fish.