When it comes to eating, no one in this world can match Chinese. Flying in the sky, climbing on the ground, swimming in the water, as long as you can eat, it can't escape the mouth of Chinese, some even flooded abroad, Chinese even ate it to the point of extinction, and this thing I want to talk about today is even more peculiar. It is very small, extremely ugly, but it is the enemy of many large sea creatures, and foreigners also hate it, which is barnacles. However, such an unpopular creature has become a big delicacy on the table of Chinese, and the coastal areas of Zhejiang even consider it the most delicious seafood, calling it "a delicacy from hell".
The cold remnant leaf was photographed in Xiangshan, Zhejiang.
Barnacles, also known as "horse teeth" (said to be named because they look like horse teeth), are arthropods with a hard shell attached to the reef of the sea, often forming dense communities. It is more common for it to attach to the bodies of whales, turtles, etc., which can endanger the life of these large marine organisms. In addition, they will also be attached to large hulls, submarine cables, etc., causing great harm, and it takes a lot of money to remove it every year, which is quite annoying. In China, however, everyone thinks it's a rare delicacy.
Barnacles are also not uncommon along the coast of the mainland, such as Xiangshan, Zhejiang, the destination of my trip. Located on the coast of the East China Sea, it has a long coastline and abundant marine resources, and is an important marine fishery source on the mainland. There are many kinds of seafood in Xiangshan, in addition to the traditional yellow croaker, striped fish, pomfret, squid, pike crab and other marine products, the shellfish here is also quite abundant, the most famous is the mussels produced from Yushan Island, which is the best in China.
But in recent years, foodies seem to have begun to focus on another seafood delicacy, which is barnacles. In the southeast of Shipu Town, the most important fishing town in Xiangshan, there is a small fishing village called Shatangwan Village, which is a small fishing village with a history of more than 400 years, and the locals have been fishing for a living for generations, guarding this homeland without regrets.
The fishermen of Shatang Bay drive small fishing boats every day to harvest the gifts of the sea. Compared to the fishing methods of modern large fishing boats, shellfish attached to the reef are the seafood that is easier for ordinary fishermen to harvest. At the end of a busy day, in addition to having enough food at home, you can also exchange some household money.
When it comes to fishermen going to the reef to mine shellfish, it's a very dangerous job. Fishermen climb onto the reef in small boats and knock down the barnacles one by one with tools, while barnacles and other shellfish grow at the intersection of the sea and the reef, and the waves will constantly hit the reef, and one will be accidentally knocked into the sea or rush into the reef pile. This is also the reason why shellfish that looks like ordinary shellfish are sold at a high price.
The picked barnacles basically look like this, this look is not afraid to compliment, but under its ugly appearance, there is an irresistible delicacy. In Xiangshan, there are two main ways to eat barnacles, one is as shown in the picture, after collecting it, wash it and boil it with water, and dip it in vinegar or soy sauce when eating. Its taste is more tender than shrimp meat, and its umami taste is more delicious than crab meat, which has conquered countless foodies.
Another way to eat this is to pick out the meat of the barnacles piece by piece, and the Elephant Mountain People have special tools to poke at the mouth, and the meat will come out in its entirety. To say that such a large barnacles, only to pick out such a little bit of meat, this meat rate is really a little low. The large basin in front of you is said to be about 4 pounds of meat at most. The price of barnacles meat is more than 40 yuan a catty, compared to other shellfish, the price of this pure meat personally feels not expensive.
This picked barnacles are generally cooked in a stir-fried manner, without adding other ingredients, just seasonings. Although this plate of fried barnacles sells generally, the taste can freshen your eyebrows, and you will never forget the last time you ate it. Seeing this, perhaps some friends want to ask, such a good thing, why can't the hotel in the city see it? According to local fishermen, barnacles are not easy to preserve and transport, long-distance transportation affects freshness and taste, so if you want to eat barnacles, you have to go to the beach, and you really can't eat them in the city.