Ann
At 1:00 p.m. on February 12, the Victorian Government of Australia suddenly announced that due to the epidemic, the Great Victoria region began a five-day "emergency lockdown" at 23:59 that night. When some friends said that they were "bored, tired, and endless", I was secretly glad in my heart that we just rushed to eat "colorful fish raw" before the "blockade".
Here's the thing, a former Taiwanese neighbor invited me and some other friends to eat raw fish at a restaurant in Malaysia to celebrate the arrival of the Chinese New Year. I gladly accepted the invitation, but when it came to "fish raw", the first thing that jumped into my mind was the Guantang fish raw that I had eaten in Chaozhou that year.
Led by a friend, we went to a small restaurant on the side of the road, but the roadside was already full of people waiting. In the kitchen of only 3 square meters, two masters are busy, a grass carp that has been cleaned up, skillfully and quickly cut into pieces of almost transparent flakes, and then placed on the bamboo basket in an orderly manner, which can not only make the fish fillet ventilated and breathable, but also absorb the excess water in the fish meat.
Raw fish I ate in Teochew. Photo/Ann
After serving, use chopsticks to carefully and gently clamp up, there is still some slight adhesion between the fillets, plus side dishes, sauces and mix together before eating. Although after many years, I still remember the wonderful taste, the fish is soft and delicate, but it does not lose its tough taste, plus the sauce, side dishes, the taste of the fish is also richer.
As I was describing it vividly, my neighbor interrupted my memories and told me that this fish was not raw, and that the dish we were going to eat during the Spring Festival had nothing to do with the fish raw in Guangdong today, and it was a traditional New Year dish popular in Malaysia and Singapore.
It turns out that this dish of "colorful fish raw", also known as "fishing", is traditionally a must-eat dish on the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, because the seventh day of the New Year is considered by the old-school Cantonese to be "human day" - Nuwa created animals and other things in the world in the first six days, and only created people on the seventh day. Fishermen along the coast of Guangdong would celebrate the harvest on "People's Day".
This tradition was first brought to Malaysia by immigrants from Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, and the earliest prototype of "fish raw" is far from today, the earliest is just a roadside porridge shop will sell raw fish with carrot shreds and cherry radish as a side dish to drink porridge, customers can add oil, vinegar, sugar and other spices according to their preferences. In this way, there is still a bit of a shadow of Chaoshan fish.
In its current form, there are two mainstream theories: one is that in Malaysia in the 1940s, a restaurant introduced a delicacy called "Gangshu Fish Noodles", which after innovation and improvement, developed the current "Colorful Fish Raw"; the other is that in Singapore in the 60s, four chefs created it to increase the income of the restaurant. In addition to the basic white and yellow of this dish, the golden sauce of shredded lettuce, shredded celery, sour plum paste and orange juice is added, making the overall appearance of this dish colorful and full of Joy of the New Year.
During the Chinese New Year, restaurants around Nanyang will start promoting this dish. Infographic
The original intention of this dish is also to let the Cantonese people who do business have a good color head in the next year, and they can make good luck and make a fortune. In this way, this dish, which has been given an "extraordinary" meaning, has gradually become a must-eat dish for the Chinese New Year in the Nanyang region.
A group of friends and I came to a Malay-owned restaurant in Flemington, Melbourne's north-west region, to join in the fun. Although strictly speaking, this dish should not be eaten until the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, but today, from the 29th of the New Year to the tenth day of the Chinese New Year, the restaurant will serve it. However, because it needs to be prepared in advance, this dish still needs to be booked in advance.
The owner was already set up for us. Photo/Ann
Because it was the last night before the "lockdown", the restaurant was already full, and everyone was happily enjoying the last "free" time. After we sat down, the owner quickly brought the colorful fish raw that had just been made.
It is made up of ingredients of different colors and covered with a thick layer of sashimi. I counted carefully, and there were exactly seven colors. Along with the raw fish, there was a bowl of sauce prepared by the owner himself, two small bags with "pepper" and "cinnamon powder" written on it, and a bag of things that were fried like forks.
The owner enthusiastically led us through the whole "fishing" ceremony:
First of all, everyone should send each other blessings, Wishing you prosperity, all the best, smooth sailing, these auspicious words can be said more, in a joyful and peaceful atmosphere to open the dinner party;
In the second step, the boss explained to us the composition and meaning of these dishes;
The most important is also the protagonist's fish raw, which can be used with mackerel or salmon, indicating that there is more than one year;
Next, the boss opens the sachet and sprinkles pepper and cinnamon powder on the dish, which means "zhao cai jin bao";
Then pour in the mixed sour plum sauce, indicating that everyone will be sweet and sweet in the new year;
The various side dishes also have their meanings:
Because the carrot shreds are orange-red, they take a harmonic sound, meaning "good luck when the head";
The shredded grapefruit scattered in a corner heralds good fortune and auspiciousness;
Green fried noodles are to bless everyone with eternal youth;
White fried noodles herald the new year, which is smoother in the workplace or business field, which means "step by step";
Some peanut crushes are added, which is "full of gold and silver";
The boss finally opened the golden triangular ingredients in the bag and sprinkled them evenly on top of all the ingredients, which is "gold everywhere".
Friends are ready to "fish up". Photo/Ann
After the ceremony was done, the last thing was that everyone silently made a New Year's wish in their hearts, and quickly "picked up" seven times with chopsticks together, while fishing, they also said loudly in Cantonese: "Fish up (Lo Hei), fish up (Lo Hei), wind and water." ”
The boss did not forget to cheer us up and encourage us next to him: "The higher you fish, the more you will earn in the next year!" ”
So the six of us went into the countryside and shouted as we shouted and fished the dishes high, and finally we had to make three loud "Hair!" hair! hair! "Come as the end of the whole fishing climax."
You must make a mess of it to be really fishy. Photo/Ann
After the ceremony, we can finally sit down, clean up the dishes that fell out of the table, and start tasting this colorful fish dish, which is mixed with sauces, various vegetables and fried foods, and put them in the mouth, sweet and sour, soft and crisp.
Singaporeans are more skilled at "picking it up" than we are. Infographic
Subsequently, the other dishes we ordered also came up one after another, everyone ate and talked, and when it was close to the end, the lady boss came to give us a New Year's greeting, I asked about the recent business, she shook her head, her eyes were a little dim, sighed and said: "Originally many Chinese ordered this dish of fish raw, we also prepared enough ingredients, I want to be able to do better business during the New Year." Unexpectedly, the sudden "lockdown order" disrupted all this, the ingredients were not waiting for anyone, coupled with the five-kilometer travel restriction, so that many diners who had already booked seats had to cancel their orders. I am still worried about how I can 'digest' these ingredients purchased in advance for the New Year during the five days of this blockade. ”
At this point, the atmosphere is a bit lonely, and everyone thinks of last year's experience, and there is a bit of helplessness and bitterness. At this time, the hostess's face was full of smiles again, and she got up and busied herself to greet the familiar customers who had just arrived at another table. Maybe this is the survival rule of Melbourne's restaurant industry in the epidemic: try to be the best in the present, and worry about tomorrow's things tomorrow.
Editor-in-Charge: Qian Chengxi
Proofreader: Luan Meng