Source: China News Network
Zhongxin Network Jiangmen June 9 Title: "I dare to eat the "catfish" of green crabs: "ginseng in the water" on the table in Taishan, Overseas Chinese Township, Guangdong Province
Author Li Xiaochun Guo Jun
"Hello! Can you order some soup first? There are raw boiling mud fierce fish winter melon soup, sand white seaweed cold melon soup, sand white seaweed soup, sand white mustard soup, miscellaneous fish tofu coriander soup, miscellaneous fish knot melon soup, Indian fish winter melon soup, Indian fish tofu soup and so on. This gray-brown fish in the fish pond is the Indian fish, which is called 'catfish' in some parts of Taishan, and it is used to cook soup, and the soup is fresh and sweet. Recently, the waiter of a restaurant at Fisherman's Wharf in Guanghai Town, Taishan City, Guangdong Province, recommended it when ordering food for diners.
Coddel winter melon soup. Photo by Li Xiaochun
After entering the summer, many diners still try to go to the seafood market and nearby restaurants to find the rare umami taste during the South China Sea seasonal fishing moratorium to satisfy the lingering attachment to seafood on the tip of the tongue.
Taicheng residents buy "inchovies" in the morning market. Photo by Li Xiaochun
It is understood that the "eel" (Taishan dialect or harmonic "Yunyu") referred to by the Taishan people is actually the Chinese Wutang eel, also known as Tu Eel, Du Eel, Belly Eel, Crab Tiger Fish. Its whole body is dark brown, the body surface has small round scales and mucus, the head is quite broad and slightly flattened, there is a white edge of the upper end of the tail fin with an eye-like black round spot, the teeth are small and sharp, fierce, feeding on fish, shrimp, crabs, shellfish, plankton and aquatic insects, prefer to inhabit the middle and low tide areas of the shallow mangrove sea, often drilling or foraging in the mangrove mudflats, mostly choose to hide in mudflat pores or rock crevices after low tide.
Steamed anchovies. Photo by Li Xiaochun
In the coastal towns of Beiqiao, Shenjing, Wencun, Haiyan, Duhu and other towns along the coast of Taishan, the mangrove forest that grows in a large area by the sea is a very precious local "sea forest", which not only plays an important role in maintaining ecological balance and maintaining biodiversity, but also provides a sufficiently rich food growth environment for small seafood on the beach. Small seafood such as mud fish (big mudskipper), "fur seal" (green mudskipper), eel, vine eel, green crab, and "climbing viper" (flat crab boy) that are abundant along the coast of Taishan are favored by many diners because of their high quality than other places.
The tail fin band "seal" is a major feature of the anchovy. Photo by Li Xiaochun
"Don't look at the small size of the anchovy, but it is very fierce when feeding, in addition to feeding on smaller fish, shrimp and crabs, the big blue crab that has just completed the process of fading the old shell and growing the new shell is easy to be regarded as a plate food because of the soft new shell, so some places call it crab tiger fish." Crucians like to drill holes, and if they dig holes directly in the mud to catch the knitted fish, the harvest is not much and time-consuming and labor-intensive. In the coastal area, everyone is familiar with its living habits, and it will be trapped under the cage, and some people use small shrimp as bait to catch fishing at the mouth of the cave, stone crevice, canal edge and other positions on the beach. Guan Shu, who lives in a small fishing village on the bay side of Taishan City, said that fishing for irrevocation is a great joy of life for people at the seaside, but it requires skill and patience, and when luck is good, you can catch a small half bucket a day.
Four-flavored soup of anchovies. Photo by Li Xiaochun
With the change of seasons, the seafood ingredients in the township markets along the coast of Taishan and the vegetable markets in Taicheng Street alternately present, giving Taishan people who pay attention to "not eating from time to time" a more timely choice. The eel is a common fresh seafood ingredient in Taishan in all seasons, and its small black, round and slippery head makes it difficult to find its high status on the local table. The characteristics of anchovies are meaty, less thorny, low-fat and high-protein, etc., and the soup cooked is delicious and delicious, which has the effect of accelerating wound healing, strengthening the spleen and appetizing, reducing swelling and so on, and is a precious tonic ingredient, with the reputation of "ginseng in the water".
"Aunt Liang, do you want to buy anchovy soup?" The smaller one here is 120 yuan a kilogram, and the slightly larger one over there is 136 yuan a kilogram. The wild anchovies caught by the sea come in different sizes, and most customers like to pick a big one to buy, so after the acquisition comes back, we pick and sell according to the size, so that customers can see at a glance when they buy, and the price is naturally large and expensive. Ms. Tan, the owner of the seafood stall in Taicheng Fucheng Market, introduced that it is relatively simple to handle the kwain, only need to open a knife horizontally under its pectoral fin, use the ingenuity of the thumb, and squeeze out the internal organs from the back to the front along the abdomen, if it is used for cooking soup, it can not scrape the scales. (End)