Abstract: We investigated the effect of different cooking methods on variation of heterocyclic amines in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) surimi products and discussed their formation mechanism. With ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry, we detected the contents of 11 kinds of heterocyclic amines. Results reveal that types of heterocyclic amines and their formation rate were related with cooking methods. Only two kinds of heterocyclic amines were detected, with 1.78 μg · kg^-1 at the 60^th minute by boiling method; nine kinds of heterocyclic amines were detected, with 75.78 μg · kg^-1 at the 30^th minute by 200 ℃ baking method; nine kinds of heterocyclic amines were detected, with 115.11 μg · kg^-1 at the 8^th minute by 200 ℃ frying method. At frying temperature of 100~200 ℃, the types and contents of heterocyclic amines increased significantly with increase of frying temperature and time.