美食家之食典
第二章：饮食科学
美食家於爱女生日时，为她设计的海报图，主题饮食“纯真”
Food Critic Classics
Food Science
Chapter II
目录
Classic
Intro
Speaking about “Scripture (经Jīng)”, it is first seen in the Chinese bronze inscriptions of late Western Zhou Dynasty. In Shuowen (说文) written that “ ‘Jing’ means weaving.” It’s mean the longitudinal thread of the loom. Later, it was extended to the classics that recorded a certain deed or a specialized art, and also refers to the works that have always been regarded as benchmarks. For example, the Four Books and Five Classics in China, the Classic of Mountains and Seas (山海经Shānhǎi jīng), the Moral Classic (道德经Dàodé jīng) of Lao Tzu, and the Classic of A Han (阿含经Ā hán jīng) is the earliest Buddhist classics.
“Canon Dictionary (典Diǎn)” first appeared in oracle bone inscriptions in the Shang Dynasty, and appears pictographic as like holding bamboo slips in both hands. Wang Fu’s “Qianfu Lun (潜夫论·赞学)” said, “the Canon Dictionary is the Scripture, and they are made by the saints.”
Around the 20th century, the “classics” have changed from professional to high-profile accounts. “Jing” involves the collection and transmission of information. “Jing” and “Dian” combines will formed the “Classic”. A true “Classic” is to collect relevant information and research experience, covering origin, function, efficacy, distribution, and customs. For a classic about food, it will covering histories, the way to taste, the containers used, and the techniques to cook.
Any literature related to diet, including recipes, diet introduction, diet theory, diet evaluation, diet history, diet records, and diet literature. Among them, long-form essays or detailed essays on dishes, including tracing the origins, have gradually declined. In addition, the catering industry has a high turnover rate, and the evaluation and recommendation of restaurants on the merits and demerits will soon become unrealistic, as “since it’s delicious, why did it go out of business?” There are too many reasons for this, including the old age of the restaurateur, the departure of the chef, and the failure of the heir to grow. Although there are many recipes, none of them can be called “classic”. They only belong to pictures and manuals. Jacky Liew have never seen a comprehensive history of diet, which is worthy of being handed down.
Food Dictionary Chapter 2
Usually Food Writer would love to refer some Chinese ancient quotes to
show they are knowledgeable, however things change now.
Jacky would like to use the Scientific data and theory to explain food.
Jacky Liew turns
Food & Fun
as Career that Benefits Country
Beijing Broadcast TV
BRTV Report
The Most Delicious in World
“Food and Sex are the people’s great desires” is a famous quote from Book of Rites (礼记 Li Ji), which Confucianism has long classified as the most basic physiological needs of human beings. Confucius even regarded “food” as one of the three essentials to establish a country, and advocated that the monarch should take good care of the people’s food and clothing. Mencius also said “the core of benevolent dictatorship should not make their people hungry and only they can have a dignified life.” Up to now, the four major enjoyments that people pursue in daily life are eating, drinking, playing and having fun. When Jacky was young, he thought that the best life was to enjoy himself. As the great poet Libai said: “Never leave your wine-cup empty in moonlight!” When he was enter to middle aged, make money does not make him interested anymore, as human only able to consume 3 meals per day. So he put much concentration to develop his career on food, clothing, living and travelling and contribute to the society, it will have a greater sense of achievement.
With the convenience of interviews, Jacky Liew has tasted all kinds of delicacies. In the journey to pursuit of deliciousness, he learnt that the knowledge obtained from general books is only the basic elements. It still needs to self-prove which theory or statement is true according to the teachings from various famous writers, no matter in ancient times to modern times. When a discipline is studied deeply enough, it will turn into a form of art. Another inspiration point to him is what had been eaten with parents since young, the simulations diffused through the memory becomes the passion to certain food and the miss to the tradition.
When look back at the Malaysian food world, it is pity to see all are enjoying the foreign culture. On the contrary, they are becoming more and more unfamiliar with their own food, culture and traditions. Since then, Jacky Liew understood that “deliciousness” of food should be come out from comparison. If one haven’t tasted the worst, they would not know what the best is. In everything, there should always be a standard, that is, from comparing similar foods one by one, but there will never be a definite answer, because the taste will change with time and mood, and it is very selfish. The food that gourmets think it is good may not be suitable for someone. Alternatively, for the food that if you feels full but wants to eat more, it definitely a good food in your mind. Jacky Liew as the originator of the Malaysian gourmet, believes that the best food in the world is “hungry”. If you are hungry, you don’t even want to eat, then this food is not worth discussing. At the same time, Jacky also the one who has produced soy sauce, feels that the most delicious thing in the world is “salt”, and salt is the best flavouring agent to enhance “umami”. No delicacy is inseparable from this taste. For people’s health also needs more “salt”.
Food Critic
Beginner
To obtain the “Knowledge” of Food is depends on learn and ask.
“Eat” is the Happiest Things.
If you wish to be a famous gourmet, you have to be passionate about eating. The harder the certain food to find, the more the desire to eat. You should never compromise with food that does not suitable for you. It is similar to studying which is inseparable from reading more, eating more, asking more, writing more, and feeling more. You need to carefully observe the nature of food and read more books and classics about food and cultivate the taste and body performance which will naturally tell you what is “delicious”. Like thirst, the body will notify in advance to drink water, and there will be a reflex action to spit out the spoiled food.[1]This is the normal reaction of people to external things, which can generally be divided into “intuitive response (IR)” and “conditioned response (CR)”. The so-called intuitive reaction is that when our hand touches a hot object, it will automatically retract without thinking. As for the conditioned response, it must be experienced in person or learned from other people’s experiences, so as to impress the cerebral cortex. When next time contact to the things that have been experienced before or learned from books, the brain will directly respond to the organ, such as seeing a lime, even if it is not peeled, the saliva will begin to secret from the mouth. For example, I have never eaten a certain brand of pickled sour plums, but I just read about it from a magazine. From then on, the memory left in the cerebral cortex will also immediately reflect and make the mouth feel salty and sour.
When people encounter to a specific food for the first time, they will definitely make the first impression as a mark and think that it is the true taste, just like eating Dongpo pork for the first time, you had experienced how Dongpo pork should look like, what is the taste, so that next time you will never agree that the real Dongpo pork is actually water-boiled meat. On the contrary, if a person had eat Dongpo pork before and feel that it is unpalatable, then the person will need to eat more times for Dongpo pork that cooked by others in order to change his/her impressions, which is why we usually need to see more, eat more, smell more, understand more, and have to in-depth explore to obtain insights.
This is why Jacky Liew has always advocated, that food reviews should not be written according to one’s own preferences, which will cause readers to receive information by mistake or have preconceived, thinking that such food is not delicious. The review must be expressed about the original flavour of food. It is required to try multiple times to the food to identify what is the delicious food and then only qualified to write a review. When one has more knowledge in food, they will become “experts” and know what or which to choose and eat, and become an artist and gourmet in life.
Distinguish with Five Senses
Food Critic
Look, Listen, Question, Feel, Smell are the five senses, Remember, Understand, Recognize in total will be eight ways to distinguish
J A C K Y ‘ S F O O D N O T E S
It is not difficult to find that there are various kinds of cooking methods for Chinese food including but not limited to steaming (蒸), stir-frying (炒), blanching (汆烫), boiling (煮), deep-frying (炸), roasting (灼), pan-frying (煎), roasting (烤), burning (烧), quick stir-frying (爆), stir-frying and velveting (溜), braised (烩), simmering (煨), double steaming (燉), boiling to concentrated the soup (㸆), smoking (燻), Sauter (煸), soaking (泡), souse (渍), red cooking (卤), baked (焗), stewing (焖), decoction (熬), boil in water and dress with seasoning (炝), etc., even if chefs can’t tell them all or differentiate it. In addition, to be a food critic should be able to “identify the dishes based on the fragrance”, listen to the sound and determine which instruments used to cook. It is not difficult to find that it can be categorised into:
“Look”. When you look at a dish, you can link it with ingredients, cooking, or determine the whole picture of the dish from the container used, such as claypot curry fish head, iron plate beef, iron pot stew, steam pot duck are well-known “cooking utensils dishes”. For the “cooking utensils dishes”, the ingredients or seasoning can be modified, but the cooking utensils should not be changed. In 2000, the Chinese-Malaysian restaurant that claimed to be the first in Malaysia to launch “Claypot Dish” eventually admitted frankly that “in fact, claypot dishes already existed, like claypot tofu. It’s just that the restaurant used a large clay pot before, but now it’s changed to a small claypot, however, the dishes will still remain the same.” Besides, by “observing” it is also easily to see that the oatmeal shrimp must have oatmeal, the preserved vegetables in the preserved vegetables pork, and the salted egg crab must have dissolved salted egg, all of these are the dishes that may observed through surface other than “cooking utensils dishes”.
“Heard”. When listening to the name of the dish, you will know the cooking method and what ingredients are used to form the delicacies, such as braised duck, plain-boiled chicken, soy sauce shrimp, chilli paste and onion fried chicken chop, braised pork knuckle with peanuts and mushrooms, asam curry Tilapia fish. Some dishes are able to directly know what exactly it is, such as salted fish and chicken balls with tofu, the fried cod with fruit salad, and the lean meat soup with figs and apples.
“Ask”. Some dishes have the specific cooking procedures such as the “Crispy duck served in three ways (烤鸭三吃)” which has fix orders to eat. This is the same as the “Poon Choi (盆菜)” have its order to arrange the different ingredients in each layers. The “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (佛跳墙)” also has the special manner of cooking and particular ingredients to use. Some Chinese dishes are cooked by select the suitable food materials according to the auspicious names that brought good meanings. For instances, “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to a Phoenix (白鸟朝凰)”, “Dragon whisker and phoenix (龙须戏凤)” in Hunan cuisine, etc., these dishes required to have a look before and only know what’s ingredients were used.
For another example, “Hometown Pork with Strong Affection and Sweetness (浓情蜜意家乡肉)” is a dish that made by pork belly with soy sauce and honey until it becomes gravy that enough sticky. With the beautiful name, the price maybe rises higher. “A Land of Fish and Rice” is a delicacy of deep-frying pine nuts until golden brown, sautéing minced garlic, followed by fish, shredded radish, corn, and water chestnuts, however, the dish has no association or relevant to the meaning of Chinese idiom “A Land of Fish and Rice/ A Land of Plenty (鱼米之乡)”. In addition, the cuisines like “White Jade Hidden with Precious (白玉藏珍)” and “A Riot of Colour (万紫千红)” are common dish names for Chinese feasts and wedding banquets, and most of them come from homonyms or are named after implications. Especially in Chinese food competitions, you can see the dishes named by the contestants are ingenious. These dishes are created or innovated based on the names. If the chef does not analyse or present before eaters, it is impossible to know what is the dish provided, therefore, you need to “ask” it clearly.
“Feel”. These dishes are able to identify through touch or taste. For example, the “Guinness pork ribs” has a rich Guinness beer fragrance, the “Steamed pork ribs with Douchi” have the obvious Chinese fermented black beans, and “Fried pork with fermented red bean curd” has the aroma of red bean curd. The advanced is how to distinguish the dishes based on taste. Sichuan cuisine is usually spicy, most Siamese dishes are hot and sour with lemongrass and lemon leaves, Indian food famous for spicy and spices.
“Smell”, this kind of dish can be determined through smell. For instance, the unique fishy smell of the Cincaluk omelette, the buttery fragrance of butter chicken, and the black vinegar smell of pork knuckles in vinegar, all of them are “pungent” dishes with an offensive flavour.
“Records”. Some dishes are named with famous people and recorded in the books such as Kung Pao Chicken (宫保鸡), Li Hongzhang Chap Suey (李鸿章杂碎) and Mapo Tofu (麻坡豆腐). Once you looked at the name, you would know that it comes from which dynasty or by whom. Some dishes have their own allusions such as beggars chicken is the token of love between a talented man and a courtesan, “Yipin pot (一品锅)” perhaps from the book “Emperor Qianlong Goes to the South of the Yangtze River” that describe a tale of Emperor Qianlong eating small hot pot with people on the street in Jiangnan. However, it actually originated from the creation of a salt merchant in Heting of the period of Emperor Jiaqing. Its name came from the dish presented with the porcelain pot made in Shanxi. Due to its also created in the government office of feudal China, therefore, it also named as “Guanzhi Yinpin pot, literally means officer reach the rank of first grade (官至一品锅)”. The “couple’s lung slices (夫妻肺片)” which is “sliced beef and ox tongue in chilli sauce” that famous in Chengdu, Sichuan. The name was implied the valuable sentiments between the poor husband Guo Chaohua and his wife holding on to each other. As these are ancient dishes, the recipes cannot be changed simply, otherwise, the dish will not be considered authentic, if do so, it is better to take a new name.
“Knowledge”, when ones have eaten most of the food and understand most of its nature, when order to a dish, they will know ginger and scallion pork must have ginger and scallion, Kung Pao chicken must be sautéed with dry chilli peppers, accompanied with shallots, ginger and peanuts. The steamed fish with ginger must have the ginger ground into a paste. Most of the ingredients for sweet and sour pork or sweet and sour pork ribs are bell pepper, tomato, onion, pineapple, and the meat is fried and topped with sweet and sour gravy. When they reach a certain level, as long as take a glance at the menu, they will know how it tastes.
“Experience”. When ones have experienced, they can infer the origin and region of dishes from the name, just because each region has the unique flavour of the hometown, such as Fuzhou red glutinous chicken, Teochew mashed taro, Hakka dumpling, Hakka Abacus Seeds or the regional food likes Ipoh bean sprouts chicken, Penang laksa, Klang bak kut teh, they all come with the practice and custom passed down by the older generation. Therefore, just by looking at the name of the food, you will know the place of origin and the style of the dish.
The Lonely Food Critic
How to Be a Remarkable Food Critic?
There is nothing about “not delicious”,
the key is how the food critic appreciates the food,
otherwise, they are not qualified to criticize dishes.
The ancients believed that what you like to eat is considered as “delicious food”. As the quote “Food has no fixed taste and only what’s palatable is precious” from Lin Hong’s (林洪) “Shanjia Qingong (山家清供)”[2]. Once, Su Yijian, who preached for Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, said, “Occasionally drunk, because of thirst, I naturally want to drink chestnut juice.” Personally, Su Yijian feels that there is no drink that for hangover, which is comparable to the chestnut juice that he loves. Therefore, he explains that food preferences vary from person to person, from event to event, and from time to time. There is no certain good or bad. But if you feel that the food is exquisite and eye-catching, then you will like it and it tastes good. Even if it is a bowl of white rice porridge, if it is cooked properly and suitable for the person, it will become the key to determining “deliciousness”. Confucius paid attention to clothing, food, housing, and transportation. He believed that “to eat but finely ground grain and finely chopped meat”. The wine can be drunk casually, but not drunk. When reach a certain level, you will be able to eat properly, has higher requirement to food and understands the sources of taste. For example, it can be divided into six basic flavours: sour (酸), sweet (甜), bitter (苦), salty (咸), mellow (甘), and umami (鲜). Although it is an important seasoning in daily diet, as long as it is properly supplemented, it will also be able to show its own characteristics in the dishes. For the five mouthfeel (滋) are loose (松), crisp (脆), flaky (酥), tender (嫩), and thick (浓)[3].But why is the six flavours lacking of “spicy” and without astringency included? [4] ？
As for how to identify and distinguish tastes, you have to understand that the sense of taste is destined by nature. Because the taste buds are the fundamental sense of taste. However, the ability to distinguish tastes is obtained by experience from “food” over the years. In the long days of food promotion, Jacky Liew felt like a gluttonous who wants to try everything, and the food knowledge and experiences that he had collected from memory for years are immeasurable. If talking about doing the food academic, he thinks he can handle it. If a person doesn’t know how to taste, identify the deliciousness and have no knowledge about it, how can he become the food master to lead the food culture in Malaysia and guide the industry to move forward?
What is good taste? Jacky Liew apply the quote from the founder of Chinese Chef Yiyin “The taste is so subtle, I can’t speak,” by holding a flower and smiling as “thumbs up”. In the Buddha dharma, in Buddhism “all dharma has the nature of emptiness”, it is not refer to “nothing”, but indescribable. Just like the Wuxia, before the martial competition starts, it had already decide lose or win. Without any positive description, but able to potray the high-quality of the food si is similar to the Buddhism dharma. Same to Jacky Liew has taken photographs with restaurant owners and fans as the proofs that the restaurants had been recognise by the jury of International Culinary Competition and received praised by the customers, which is better than any food reviews. Besides, the signature gesture of Jacky Liew always lift his thumb up which in Chinese called “Gongzhi (公指)” is the homophonic sound of “Gongzi” in Cantonese. It has aslo implied to the allusion of “Finger Moving (食指大动)” Gongzi Song in the Spring and Autumn periods which means appetizing. Therefore, sometimes it is hard to express the delicisiouness by words.
The Advocates of Food
Jacky 1988 since
Taste Original
The “Original Taste” insisted by Food Critic means that each ingredients should keep their original flavour and freshness.
The Requirement of Food Critic to Pure Food
Jacky Liew has repeatedly emphasized that the “original flavour” refers to eating the original flavour of the ingredients at first, and then taste the flavour after seasoning. Then only you will able to know the difference and the cooking skills of the chef.
The interpretation of food critic to the “ultimate taste of original” should be “chicken tastes like chicken, fish taste like fish” and insists that each ingredient should retain its original taste and umami while Umami is the original taste of “freshness”.
The ancient scholars paid attention to the freshness and original taste of food, and showed their desire to live a simple life and not purposeful to pursue to fame and wealth. They paid attention to cooking with ordinary materials as they searching the true interest of simplicity in writing and cooking. By discussing to the character structure, the word “鲜 freshness” is divided into “鱼 fish” and “羊sheep”. Perhaps the ancients thought that the taste of these two things could represent “freshness”. For another character “美 beautiful” if separated the top and bottom composition, are “羊sheep” and “大big”, which means that only the mutton with suitable age is the most delicious and beautiful. It can be seen that both characters are related to sheep. For those who love to eat mutton, of course, it is a happy thing. For Jacky Liew, he loves both these creatures, that is, the mutton and the “fresh” in water which brings the satisfaction to the mouth. However, from a scientific point of view, the eagerness of human to pursue for freshness may be rooted in genes early since the fetus growing in the mother’s womb and draws nutrients from “amniotic fluid”. The amniotic fluid contains umami substances, and breast milk protein also contains free glutamic acid representing “umami”. Therefore, the history of human evolution has never been able to escape from the desire for “umami”. The “freshness” and “beauty” of food are the highest definitions for delicious, and food should indeed take “freshness” as priority.
In handling the fresh ingredients, it should not destroying the nutrition and original quality of vegetables, fruits, and meat, or to distort the essence and original taste of food, the light fragrance and bring out the ultimate freshness is the best. For cooked food, according to the time limit of fresh food stipulated by the National Environment Agency of Malaysia, when cooked food is stored between 5-60 degrees Celsius, the bacteria in it will grow rapidly and may reach a dangerous level after 4 hours. Then, the food after 4 hours will be unfresh.
Experts who know how to eat can get a good taste of green vegetables and tofu without seeking luxury. It is because the person who eats it has a noble character and is able to turn the ordinary fish, meat, melon and vegetables into famous dishes. For example, Li Hongzhang, a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty, loved to eat the simple “Huangpu eggs”. [2]Even the domestic animals raised at home, the freshly picked wild vegetables and the fresh fish caught and even leftovers, if able to produce the most extraordinary taste, then they are considered as good cooks. Because Jacky Liew believes that the aged and expensive goods such as abalone, ginseng, shark fins and fish maw may not really be comparable to fresh fruits and vegetables. The definition of “delicious” should be the natural taste. According to Yuan Mei in the Qing Dynasty, “Bear paws and leopard embryos are the most precious things to eat; however, if did not handle and eat properly, then the taste may not comparable to the vegetable or a bamboo shoot”. The quote means that an article does not need to be long-winded and rhetorical, the important thing is to leave a deep impression on people. Just like a banquet, too many dishes on the table will make people dazzled and daunting. Therefore, the best way will be to appreciate one and after another. As long as the dishes enable people to remember, they will be regarded as the taste of success.
The “taste” that Jacky Liew pursuit to “the ultimate taste of original” does not refer to complex seasonings, but an artistic conception of the original taste of the ingredients. And the most beautiful food in the world is “the ultimate beautiness” which never been contaminated. All because some food like fish, meat, and herbivorous have a gamy, stinky or unpleasant smell. In order to combat the smell, some seasonings may be used to enhance the flavour but it will lose its authenticity. Regardless of the so-called “ultimate taste” or “fineness of taste”, it must be made by the cooking method of “steaming” or “boiled” rather than any complicated culinary skills. In terms of aquatic products, as long as it is “fresh”, there is no need to add seasoning. Just like Japanese sashimi with little salt and soy sauce can be used to highlight the original flavour. What’s more, fresh fish can give people good animal protein and unsaturated fatty acids, which are better than livestock. But not all “fish” functioned the same. Because marine fish and freshwater fish have great differences in the fat and nutrient content of fish meat, unsaturated fatty acids in marine fish can be as high as 70% to 80%, which can lower blood lipids, improve blood coagulation mechanism, and reduce thrombosis. Most marine fish contains ingredients that can inhibit platelet aggregation, so people with high cholesterol can often eat marine fish.
Water and Land
EIGHT PRECIOUS
“Eight Precious” originally referred to the precious cooking materials in ancient times. If the dishes are made with “Eight Precious”, it can be called “Eight Precious Banquet”. “Eight Precious (Chinese: 八珍) comes from the “The Collective of Eight Precious” in record “Zhou Li Tianguan Zhong Zaixia (周礼天官冢宰下)”. At that time, it referred to the six dishes that Kings of Zhou Dynasty had eaten. In “Three Kingdoms • Wei Kai Biography (Chinese: 三国志•卫凯传)” stated that “among food and dishes, it must have the taste of the Eight Precious”, even Du Fu, Bai Juyi and Lu You have mentioned the preciousness of the Eight Treasures in their texts.
Eight Precious can be classified as Eight Precious of Mountains and the Eight Precious of Water. It also further divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower classes. Just like the Eight Precious of Water are Shark’s Fin, Abalone, Fish Lip, Calipish, Dried Scallop, Cartilage of Shark’s head, Dried oviduct fat of Chinese Forest Frog. For Manchurian feasts, the Eight Precious are bird’s nest, shark fin, fish maw, fish bone, black ginseng, abalone, seal, giant salamander, and dry food is fin, ginseng, belly, abalone, lips, mussels, dried scallops, squid.
The gourmet Su Shi in Song Dynasty recommended using shepherd to prepare Dongpo porridge in a letter to Xu Shier, saying that “The Eight Precious of sea and land are all contemptible”. The Eight Precious nowadays refers to 1. sea cucumber, 2. shark fin, 3. fish crisp (that is, the cartilage of the shark’s head), 4. fish maw (the swim bladder of yellow croaker), 5. Bird’s nest, 6. Bear’s paw, 7. toad, 8. deer tendon, except precious bear paws, huskies and deer tendons are raw materials which not easy to obtain, but in the eyes of gourmet Su Shi, they are not as valuable as “home-cooked rice porridge”.
Jacky Liew in opinion that the Eight Precious is not as valuable as fresh materials
As a food critic must know that Malaysia owned the most precious and variesties of nature ingredients including the East Malaysia which have different plants and animals with the West Malaysia. If a person do not know these, but prefer by going to foreign country in showing how he had many experiences, should not called as a “profession”.
Discovery of Malaysia Precious
Seafood
As a gourmet, if you don’t even know how precious local ingredients are, but just go abroad to tell others that you have much experience in eating. In modern days, even if one person travels abroad, it will only take ten days. At most, take a few photos and come back and publish the articles. Many people can do similar methods. For example, a tour guide can be considered an “expert” by writing a few articles. In fact, Malaysia has the most abundant and diverse natural food materials. The geographical and climatic spans of the Asian continent of West Malaysia and the Sunda Islands region of East Malaysia are very different. From plateaus, forests, water systems, coastlines, animals and plants, Malaysia is more adjacent to Malaysia. The country has a wider range of food raw materials. Looking at the three social food classes in Malaysia, the five cuisines are completely different in food and cultural customs. They are already the greatest treasures, and what a huge food system?
Paying attention to the “health way of eating”, eating fish is indeed more beneficial than eating meat. Because the deliciousness of fish begins with freshness, it can produce a tender and delicious taste, which makes people eat with relish, and the more they eat, the better their mood. This is completely affected by the Omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids contained in fish.[6]It can increase serotonin in the body, trigger a pleasant feeling of eating, and achieve a psychological feeling of calming emotions. This is why Jacky Liew repeated emphasis on “the ultimate original flavor”. The fresher the aquatic products, the more beneficial to the physiology and psychology. Even medical research reports confirm that “fresh” has the effect of making people happier, young, full of wildness and vitality, which is why Jacky Liew regards “freshness” as the basis of delicious food.
Nutritionists believe that the first animal non-staple food for children should be fish that is nutritious, easy to digest and nourishes the brain. From biological analysis, the “freshness” of seafood comes from amino acids and a small amount of nucleic acid. Such as pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, with fresh meat ingredients. However, it is covered by other nutrients, so it is not as delicious as seafood, mixed with fishy odor. In addition to poor storage, coupled with the humid environment, the growth of microorganisms, the destruction of meat protein, the decomposition of amino acids, and the natural appearance of fishy smell. Therefore, as long as the ingredients are fresh enough, there is no need for a chef to cook. Cooking in the most basic way, making it fresh or raw, and trying not to destroy the main flavor of the natural nourishment, will be of a higher level than cooking a compound flavor. The food boy has always been simple and consistent in eating, and being able to not go and enjoy the taste is the fundamental requirement of food quality for gourmets.
No matter what kind of fish you buy, the most practical thing is that the fish that you go to and get back on the same day are the freshest. In addition, you should immediately take out the internal organs of the fresh fish and thoroughly rinse the fish maw, because the internal organs are the most likely to breed bacteria and accelerate the corruption of the fish meat. The fish is frozen and preserved. Because the fishy smell of freshwater fish is different from that of sea fish, the blood-red flesh and blood vessels on both sides of the fish should be treated first, and the fish should be thoroughly rinsed. It is best to use a stainless steel surface for the fish-cutting knife, because the metal ions released by the knife body will combine with the odor molecules to destroy the fishy smell, and then the knife body absorbs the smell molecules to reduce the fishy smell. This is why Japanese sashimi masters use 100 refined steel knives. Vinegar, sugar, rice wine and other substances in sushi can neutralize the fishy smell of fish fillets, and use wasabi to sterilize. This is the highest culinary realm where Japanese cuisine is good at mastering the properties of food to achieve an invisible, colorless, and tasteless balance.[7]
As for dishes, as long as they can be cooked simply with fresh ingredients, and ordinary kitchen utensils can be used to bring out the original flavor of the dishes, the simpler the dishes, the more difficult it is to cook well, such as porridge, noodles, noodles, and rice. A cook can’t even do this, let alone try anything else.
Large yellow croaker
The Most Expensive
“Yellow Croaker”
122 B.C, Guangdong People in Qin Dynasty had eat Yellow Croaker
“Larimichthys” known as “yellow croaker”. It also known as “stoned-head fish” as in the fish head consists a small and irregular white stone. However, such stone brings fresh and salt taste which able to diuresis, heat-clearing and detoxification. It is commonly used in the traditional Chinese medicine. The one who don’t know its usage will abandon it. The large yellow croaker performs a tender, plump, boneless, sweet and rich characteristics. It also contains the nutritional value of protein, fat, calcium, iron, iodine, vitamin B, etc.
Top 10 Famous Seafoods in the World:
- Wild yellow croaker
- Canadian Geoduck
- King salmon
- Gooseneck barnacles
- French Belon oysters, copper oysters
- Bluefin tuna
- Blue lobster
- Alaskan King Crab
- Australian lobster
- Japanese puffer
The wild “Larimichthys”, can be called as “large yellow croaker”, scientific name Larimichthys crocea which named by Richardson in 1846. It is the most expensive fish species in the world. Yellow croaker is abundant in the Northwest Pacific and is the main fish species along the coast of China, including the East China Sea, the southern part of the Yellow Sea and the South China Sea. It mainly inhabits sandy and muddy inner bays, and migrates to the coast or estuary during the breeding season. Originally it belonged to the middle and lower classes of fish, but because the “fish blubber” of the yellow croaker has a vocal function, it often makes noise during the spawning period, so it has become famous.
At present, China has cultivated yellow croaker for market needs, and the most suitable season to eat yellow croaker is from around the Lunar New Year to April. It is more plump and juicy, with high protein and mineral content, less fat, and the best body size is about 25 cm. Yellow croaker has cholesterol-lowering properties and is suitable for people with high blood pressure and obesity. Yellow croaker also contains nicotinic acid, which can strengthen the skin or mucous membranes, protect the health of the digestive organs. The yellow croaker has one of the best flavours among all kinds of fish. As long as it is fresh enough, with a little salt, the original flavour of the yellow croaker can be perfectly highlighted. In China, the most famous dish “squirrel yellow fish” does not refer to “large yellow croaker”, while for the “little yellow fish” in Shanghai in the 1940s refers to the “gold bars”, which shows how precious this yellow croaker is.
The price of the endangered wild yellow croaker is sky high. A wild yellow croaker weighing more than 2 kilograms can reach tens of thousands of ringgits per kilogram. The head of the farmed yellow croaker is larger, round and blunt, the lip color is light, the fish tail is small, and the dorsal fin is rough, while the wild head has a pointed head, bright lip color, slender fish tail, serrated dorsal fin, and scales that are not inserted upside down. Since wild yellow croaker is a marine fish, the meat is delicious and firm, and the farmed yellow croaker’s meat is loose and falls off when it is boiled. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan currently sell mostly bred round-headed yellow croaker. In 2000, the overfishing of wild yellow croaker makes it nearly zero. If the yellow croaker is cultivated, the fish should be selected with tight flesh, thick and elastic belly, shiny skin, and clear and transparent fish eyes. Slowly simmer, and then use a high fire to firm up the juice, making it delicious and delicious.
The Hundred Years of Mystery
Promote Malaysia Marine Product
“Fish” is the daily food of Malaysians, and each meal consumes roughly 1-2 fish. According to statistics, a Malaysian eats 60 kilograms of fish a year, so Malaysia is the country that consumes the most fish in the world. One of the reasons is that the Malaysian aquaculture industry has become a means to ensure the supply of fish every year. However, due to the serious impact of climate change on ecology, aquatic experts found that fish are more susceptible to bacteria and difficult to spawn, especially the ecological changes cause significant influence to “perch” and “grouper”, and the fish with antibiotics have not been exported to countries like Singapore so far. Before 2010, Jacky Liew were aware of the fishermen’s problem and encouraged to turn Malaysia’s fishery products into delicacies on the national table. In addition, in order to promote the fish caught in the Malaysian waters, he has also carried out research work on country’s marine organisms, and this “South China Sea Economical Fish” was gifted by the director of the Malaysian Fisheries Bureau for Jacky Liew. He has received support from the authorities to promote domestic fisheries.
Threadfin
Image 268 and 269 Eleutheronema tetradactylum is Mayao
Image 270 Polydactylus Indicus/Leptomelanosoma indicum is Shunfeng
Terubuk
Image 1 Hilsa Kelee, a sea shad introduced from abroad. Image 3 and 4 are both native shads. Image 3 Tenualosa macrura and Image 4 is Tenualosa toli.
Threadfin
The Most Expensive Threadfin in Malaysia.
The Lotus Leaf Roast Wu Fish 20 years ago.
The dishes added with lotus leaf, which to extract the scent of its fragrance, which can relieve dizziness, clear wind and heat, nourish the spleen and stomach, remove edema, disperse congestion, generate vitality, and cure cough. Best used for food in midsummer.
The image at left is “Shun Feng (Chinese: 顺风)”, Teochew and Hokkienese called it “Wuwu (Chinese: 乌午), Hong Kong people are called Mayao (Chinese: 马友), Sabah named it “Ma Mu” (Chinese: 马母), in Malay is “Kurau”, English is Threadfin. It is a large-sized fish in the Malaysian waters and is a kind of high-fat and most valuable fish, rich in a variety of nutrients, able to replenish tonic, nourishing blood, dampness, anti-tuberculosis and others. It is a good nutritional product for patients with chronic illness, weak, anemia and tuberculosis. It also has the effect of strengthening the kidney. So it act as health care food for young couples, pregnant women, middle-aged and elderly people. In addition, the fish meat is tender, so it is advisable to fry or steam it without seasoning. In 1998, the market price of 5 kilograms of threadfin was RM35/Kg. The popular cooking method in Chinese and Malaysian restaurants is “deep fried Threadfin”. In 2020, threadfin per kg is RM80 in South of Malaysia. Jacky Liew often ordered to be eaten at home and entertained guests.
The Confusion Between “Mayao” and “Shunfeng”
“Wu Fish (Chinese: 午鱼)” is the general name of Polynemidae, also called as threadfin. It usually lives in the mangrove area. Taiwan has 5 main species, namely the Indian threadfin (Polydactylus indicus), the Small-mouth Threadfin (Polydactylus microstomus), the Four-finger Threadfin (Eleutheronema tetradactylum), Six-finger Threadfin (Polydactylus sexfilis), Striped Threadfin (Polydactylus plebeius), and the Blackspot Threadfin (Polydactylus sextarius). The other two species are Eleutheronema rhadinum and Filimanus sealei.
In Malaysia, there are 5 genera and a total of 12 classifications. The most common are the East Asian Four-finger Threadfin (Eleutheronema rhadinum), the Four-finger Threadfin (Eleutheronema tetradactylum), the Three-finger Threadfin (Eleutheronema tridactylum), and the Blackspot Threadfin (Polydactylus sextarius), all of them are belongs to “Wu Fish” in Malaysia, which is often referred to as Mayao (Chinese: 马友) and Wuzai (Chinese: 午仔), in Malay called as Senanginin. Only that India Threadfin (Polydactylus indicus) is the so called “Shunfeng (Chinese: 顺风)” or “Wuwu (Chinese: 乌午)” and in Malay it called as “Ikan Kurau”. The characteristics of four-fingers, six-finger refers to the number of bifurcated fin rays, and there are 4 to 8 soft rays in the lower part of the fish, which are the main basis for the classification of Threadfin. For example, four-fingers have four thread-like independent rays. The fish is silver-gray and the caudal fin is deeply separate into two. However, the most recognizable characteristics of “Shunfeng” are that its tail is slender than other threadfin, its nose is pointed and protruding, eyes are relatively small, and it has five long, thread-like independent rays. The body color is dull. As for Mayao, the head is small, the eyes are big and the body is fat and short, the color is yellowish leucorrhea, and the scales are small. This is the biggest obvious difference between “Mayao” and “Shunfeng”.
In addition, although the India Threadfin and Striped Threadfin also have 5 thread-like rays, but the Striped Threadfin is relatively small and can grow to about 30 cm, while the India Threadfin has a minimum size of 63 cm. The longest can reach 113 cm, especially in the 100-meter deep estuary. As for the Polydactylus sextarius, it is the smallest among the Threafin, generally only 20 cm.
For fishermen define the Threadfin more than 10 kg is called as “Shunfeng” and the Threadfin below 10kg is “Mayao” or “Wu Fish” is not always true, because the Four-finger Threadfin can reach the maximum length of 2 meters and the normal range is about 50 cm which generally not larger than “Shunfeng”. That is to say, it is common for Mayao to weigh more than 5 or 6 kg while the Shunfeng can weigh up to 30 to 40 kg. Therefore, it is impossible to distinguish between the Shunfeng and Mayao based on the weight. However, even if the weight of Shunfeng is equal to Mayou, the price of Shunfeng is still higher than Mayou.
刺壳
Terubuk
The Terubuk which Hermaphroditism
Toli Shad (Malay: Terubuk) is one of the most expensive fish in Malaysia
Toli Shad is a rare fish species in the Malaysian waters, and it is also one of the most valuable marines and freshwater fish in Malaysia. At present, Toli Shad that over 1 kg is hard to find in the market. Because of its tender and delicious meat, rich in fat and aroma, Toli Shad has become a good item and some fishermen even only take their eggs and sell them at high prices. However, many people have misunderstood that the Toli shad in Malaysia is equivalent to the Reeves shad in China. However, in terms of attributes and habitats, these two types are by no means the same kind of fish. Even the Toli Shad that is produced in Malaysia also have different types according to the region. The only thing in common is that Toli Shad and Reeves shad are expensive fish species.
Toli Shad is not Reeves shad
Toli Shad belongs to the family of Clupeidae, the genus of Tenualosa which is a vulnerable species. Currently, there are five types of shad in the world, and Malaysia existed 2 types which are Tenualosa Macrura (saltwater)and Tenualosa Toli (freshwater). To cater for the market needs, Malaysia also introduced shad species such as Tenualosa Ilisha and Hilsa Kelee from Bangladesh, Myanmar and India. The term Ikan Terubuk, which is commonly spoken in Malay, includes the above four species of shads.
Some people say that the Toli shad in Malaysia is the Reeves in China. They even point out that the Malaysia species is same as the shad in the Yangtze River, Qiantang River and Pearl River in China. However, this is wrong. According to the Australian CSIRO Ocean and Environmental Research Institute, although the Toli shad and Reeves shad belong to the family herring. shad, but shad in China is the species Tenualosa reevesii, which is not found in Malaysia. Due to China’s over-fishing, shad has become an endangered species in China. Therefore, American shad and Tenualosa Macrura from Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia are now circulating on the market in China. It should be noted that today’s academic research on fishery products is advanced, and the previous set of relying on ancient books or field investigations is out of date.
Excerpted from Xu Yunqiao’s
“Dictionary of Nanyang Chinese Slang” on the misunderstanding of the shad.
Types of Shad in Malaysia
In Malaysia, Tenualosa Toli is mostly caught along the coast of Sarawak, the Luba River, Lhasa River and Saliba River, while Tenualosa Macrura in the waters of the Straits of Malacca, Sumatra and Borneo. Become a unique fish species in Sarawak. The Tenualosa Toli is characterized by a pointed head and mouth, while the Tenualosa Macrura has a short and fat body, a wide head and a largemouth, a short tail, and a lack of spots on both sides compared to other shads. It also more expensive.
Despite being divided into brackish and freshwater, shad can tolerate changes in salinity, so they are anadromous fish. In their adult years, they live in saltwater and swim back to the estuary to spawn during the full moon period of the breeding season. In their youth, the Tenualosa Macrura lives in the ocean while Tenualosa Toli lives in freshwater.
The Tenualosa Macrura and Tenualosa Toli are both protandrous hermaphrodite. In the first year, they are born in males in size about 23 cm which is called as Semperit or Pias. In the following year, when it grows to 40 cm, it undergoes a physiological transformation process and becomes a female. According to the survey by the Sarawak Fisheries Department, the spawning period of freshwater shad is from September to October, but more shad migrate into the river area from June to October and spawn in the upper reaches of freshwater rivers. Freshwater shad can live for 2-3 years, while saltwater shad can only live for 2 years, which is one of the reasons for its endangered. Each of the shad can grow to a maximum of 2 kg.
In addition, in the estuary area of the West Malaysia Peninsula, shads are also an important fishery product. In 2014, the Institute of Oceanology and Environment of Terengganu University captured samples of shads in the Perak River, which were found to be Tenualosa Ilisha. This means that in West Malaysia, the species of shads normally are Tenualosa Ilisha and Tenualosa Macrura. Tenualosa Ilisha unlike the Tenualosa Macrura and Tenualosa Toli which in characteristic of protandrous hermaphrodite, it is hermaphrodite like the Tenualosa Reeves. Tenualosa Ilisha able to grow rapidly to 20 cm in the first year and then grows normally. It is mostly distributed in the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf to the Myanmar, including the Strait of Malacca and North Sumatra. It is the national fish of Bangladesh, because of its features of more oily and tender. The Malays in northern Johor called it Terubok Umno, as to distinguish Sarawak shad which is less oily and more bones. In the middle area of the Peninsular Malaysia, they will import Burmese shad which larger in size. In fact, the wild shads are extremely rare in Malaysia.
Malaysia wild Ikan Terubuk
The Price of Shads
In 1989, one box of 20kg shads in Sarawak was only cost RM75, but it has soared to RM150-250 in 2020. In Sarawak, the price of shad is calculated according to size, whether local or imported. It is about RM100 for less than 1kg, RM230-300 for a fish over 2kg, and 500-RM800 for 1kg of shad’s eggs.
The Cooking Methods of Shad (Ikan Terubuk)
In Malay society, Ikan Terubuk are generally not scaled, but the internal organs are preserved, because the sweet and bitter internal organs and the oil-rich fish eggs are the essence. Firstly, marinate the fish with spices, put into a pan and add a little oil, cover with lid and simmer for 10 minutes, then turn the fish to another side, again simmer for 10 minutes. For roasting, wrap it in tinfoil and stay for at least 10-15 minutes according to the size, as long as 45 minutes-1 hour based on its thickness. Extra 10 minutes need to be roast for per inch. In Chinese cooking, the shad will be bake with salt or boil it with juice. Because the shad has many fine bones, it is difficult to remove it, so it is easier to eat by boiling it until totally tender together with the fish scales. Sarawak people will even fry the scales until the whole body is crispy. The best way is to use pressure cooker to steam it, but require hours. The purpose is preserve the fish oil. If takes the way of steaming, it only takes 8-15 minutes depending on the size of the fish.
Uncommon
The Rare Fish in Malaysia
Regional-Harpoon Spadefish
“Harpoon Spadefish”, also known as Zhongjiang (Chinese: 中江/舯舡), originally meant the large wooden sampan moored in the port before the war. This fish belongs to the order Ephippiformes and the family Ephippidae, its scientific name is Proteracanthus sarisophorus, named by Cantor in 1849. The English name is Knightfish, Harpoon Spadefish while Malay called it Ikan Kuku, but another species of Acanthopagrus pacificus, also called as Ikan Kuku. Harpoon Spadefish mainly distributed in the central and western Pacific region, including the brackish and freshwater fishes of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and the Borneo Sea. Even in the same Strait of Malacca, the active area of the Harpoon Spadefish is only in Kukup, Johor, the southernmost tip of the Asian continent until the limited waters of Muar. As for other parts of the peninsula, it is rare to see. Usually, fishermen who catching the big-tailed Harpoon Spadefish will kept for their own because its skin just as delicious as grouper. 1 kg of medium Harpoon Spadefish is about RM55 – 65. Its upper jaw is slightly protruding from the lower lip, the back is dark brown, the side is gray and white, the abdomen is silver, the edge of the scales is darker, the upper fin has a long spine, and the fish looks like a grinning human face. So Jacky named it as “human-faced fish”. Because the meat is smooth and sweet, and full of oil, it is suitable for steaming and stewing, but there is lack to see Malay society consumes it.
Seasonal – Swordfish
“Swordfish” is a seasonal fish, and Malaysia’s Rompin is one of the few places in the world that sailfish pass through. Every July to October, with the ocean currents, large groups of swordfish will migrate from the Pacific to Rompin and attracts fishers from all over the world. Due to it is the largest fish in the world, in the market is mostly sold in slices, the meat is preferably red or pink, contains a lot of myoglobin, including anserine, histidine and other nutrients plus low fat content, therefore it is not suitable for long-time cooking but more suitable for dicing or making sashimi. It can also be fried, grilled, fried, or stir-fried. As for the swordfish of “Atlantic Blue Marlin”, the meat is high in fat and the market value can be as high as RM10.6 million. The picture above shows the grilled swordfish bone.
Near Threatened Fish-Great Grouper
The picture above shows a grouper which scientific name is Epinephelus coioides. It also known as “orange-spotted grouper”. Generally, it can grow to 3-4 feet long and 150 kilograms, while the Giant Grouper can up to 9 feet and 450 kilograms.
Whole fish feast is also known as “Quanxi (Full Set Banquet)”-
As far as gourmets are concerned, “whole fish feast” is divided into two categories and four types. The first category is define in the narrow sense, which one fish is used to cook for several dishes. It is a primary level. And the another kind is fish dishes are made from different fish species. The second category belongs to the general definition, which also includes two types, which are made according to different aquatic products including carapace, crawling, soft body, etc., such as full abalone feast and full crab feast. The other type is based on aquatic products supplemented with other ingredients. The one which is qualified to be called as “dragon feast” must only use for carp, crucian carp, black carp and eel.
Extremely Sophisticated
Eat Tricky and Exquisites Foods
The Biggest Fish Skin in Marine ¡
Malaysia 52kg Haikou catfish skin
“Catfish” is the collective name for freshwater fish under the order Catfish and Catfish. Also known as bearded silver carp, sticky fish, pond lice common name freshwater shark scientific name fork-tailed catfish. Because the whole body has no scales and whiskers, the body is mucus and the fish is tender, with few thorns, easy to digest, and the whole body is full of treasures, especially the head and fish belly. Only the internal organs and stomach are not edible. It has the effects of promoting lactation, nourishing yin, and diuresis, and also has therapeutic effects on people who are post-operative, weak, and malnourished.
Malaysian fork-tail catfish is comparable to Indian tank duck-billed catfish. According to the data of Dahanshan National Park, catfish can eat everything because of the large capacity of the belly, including monkeys, giant lizards and even the same kind. The maximum weight can reach 80 kg and the body length is 6 feet. 2 feet in width, 60kg and 90kg have been seen in Pahang River, so they are considered by local fishermen as mysterious and inviolable freshwater big fish.
malaysian shark skin
Shark scalps have just been fished from the sea, and are mostly used as shark smoke in Taiwan. Because the rich gum has a little wild fishy smell and a soft and slippery feeling, it has a better taste than fish lips. If it is slightly hard, it can be cut into pieces for stewing. It can be used with oil-consuming seasoning or soup.
Malaysia Shark
Canadian whale skin
“Whales” are mostly eaten from Norway, Iceland, Alaska, Greenland and other places. They are generally eaten unseasoned and have a bland taste. Whale fat with skin is the tribal diet of Siberian natives and Greenland Newts, called muktuk, and tourists can only eat it in 4-star restaurants. In addition, Japan also has a history of whaling for thousands of years, and whale meat is a traditional Japanese delicacy. Although the International Whaling Commission banned whaling activities in 1986, the Japanese still cannot resist the temptation of whale meat to hunt whales legally or illegally. . Therefore, Japan is the world’s largest demand for whale meat. The main importing countries are Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula, where Bryde’s whales and sperm whales are also protected, while Japan replaces the endangered gray whales with minke whale meat.
Whales, marine mammals, are divided into baleen whales (Mystacoceti) and toothed whales (Odontoceti). Scientists often separate whales from dolphins and freshwater dolphins, but some zoologists believe that whales and dolphins belong to the same family.
Japanese dolphin skin
Dolphins are called “fairy meat” in Taiwan. Along with swordfish and tuna, they have extremely high levels of methylmercury. Like Japanese puffer fish, they need to be handled properly. Because of the tight flesh of dolphins, the black outer skin is sandwiched with a layer of meat and thick fat, and then a layer of dark red to black bottom meat, just like the “pork belly” in pork. Usually cut into cubes, the Japanese fry it in batter or cook it in miso, which turns the meat white and tastes similar to beef liver. Some will be cut into long strips, served with green onions, mustard, ginger and eaten raw.
Japanese Dolphin Specialty Cuisine
Three Precious Part
Malaysia Giant Groupers
The “Three Treasures of the Dragon Barrel” are the dragon barley skin and the dragon barley button, that is, the three neck bones under the fish stomach and the fish head, which are extremely nourishing.
One of the Three Treasures, Steamed Dragon Barley Skin
One of the Three Treasures, Stewed Dragon Bone with Three Throat Bone
One of the Three Treasures, Stewed Dragon Fish Maw
dragon scales
“Dragon Buffalo Diet” is a unique feature of the dragon Bong. Stewed with yuzhu, white fungus, cordyceps, and wolfberry medicinal materials, it has the benefit of lowering blood pressure. There are also masters who fry such a large fish scales and serve it as a fish cake. Crispy like roast suckling pig skin.
Great Spotted Wing
The spines of the dorsal fin of the dragon worm are drawn into a lump like a big chicken leg. The dorsal fin of the dragon bun is also called the big spot fin. It needs to be turned frequently during cooking, because it is fried with flour, and it is easy to stick to the pan after being stewed.
“Shark’s fin” as big as a chicken leg – big spot fin
Worth a lot – 168kg of dragon buns sold to KL for RM23,000
Knowledge of the Great Dragon
In Malaysia, fishermen believe that giant dragons are full of spirituality. After catching, they will cover the eyes of the fish with white cloth, and at the same time offer incense and worship before starting to drop the knife, which is completed in an hour before and after.
Du Weilun, director of marine environmental protection at the World Wide Fund for Nature, pointed out that ichthyologists would take a piece of the ear bone of the inner ear of a large dragon, cut it into small pieces and put it under a microscope, and judge the age of the dragon through the rings like tree rings. .
Differentiation
Grouper and Giant Grouper
It is not unusual for this grouper to be caught in the Strait of Malacca. It is not right to call it “little dragon croaker”. It is called large grouper or mullet. It is one of the four famous fish in China and is expensive. Whenever there is a catch or an accidental catch in the sea that is ordered by Shi Gongzi, the supplier will give priority to calling Shi Gongzi to pick up the goods, and take them home and store them in a special seafood freezer for use. Sometimes it is bought immediately, and it is steamed at the restaurant on the return journey, and it is faster to eat first. It is known that the wild grouper is thicker and fatter, and the muscles are evenly distributed, all because of the high activity rate. As for the grouper meat cultured in the sea, it is softer and has the same body shape. It is better to choose the fish with thick and elastic body when buying sea grouper. The picture above shows the “Oblique Bander Large Grouper”.
石斑大鱼头
Grouper
Fish Head
Steaming a seven-star-spotted head bigger than a plate
Steamed grouper head at home
“Fish eyes” is the key to observe the indicators of fresh fish. For some fish species, as long as they touch the ice, the fish eyes will become cloudy. As for the inside of the fish gills, it needs to be close to purple red, and the mucus is not the standard of staleness. . Because some marine fish, such as the sky-high yellow croaker and grouper, as long as they get out of the sea water, the fish gills will produce mucus to protect the dirt. To judge the freshness, just stick your fingers into the inner layer of the fish gills, and if there is no smell, it means that the fish has no taste. Fresh fish.
The knowledge gained from interviewing for more than 20 years is that it is not difficult to find similar grouper in the ingredients noted by chefs or food writers. For example, steamed grouper or red is called “red spot”. Not to mention the scientific name and what kind of cooking is suitable for the meat quality, lobster is lobster, almost every book is opened, either lobster sashimi or lobster in soup. No one has ever really mentioned which family of lobsters? Otherwise, just tell the name of the dish mentioned by the chef and express your knowledge of eating with yourself as the center. Why cook like this and eat like that, but avoid the important ones. In this way, even people in the kitchen industry and food writers can say that they have eaten countless dishes. When asked, I believe many of them will ignore it.
The Common Knowledge of Past Writer to Grouper
Simple points, the fish skin and scales are “Dragon Bumblebee”, and the outside of the fish with long scales is “Grouper”
In this old newspaper, it is not wrong to report the “Dragon Bumblebee” as a “Super Large Grouper”, which means that this fish has existed for a long time, but the Dragon Bingle and the grouper are two types of fish. “Bang” is a fish that can only be found in the deep sea. The grouper is a grouper in the order Perciformes, while the dragon bunker is a grouper in the grouper grouper in the order Perciformes. According to the research of scientists, the difference between the grouper and the grouper is that the fish skin is covered with scales, while the scales of the grouper grow outside the skin. A simple analysis means that the grouper and the grouper are collectively referred to as “groupers”. The scientific name of the grouper is known to belong to the grouper genus, but the grouper is not the grouper.
Steamed Seabass and Grouper
“Perch talc grouper” is also known as giant grouper. Although it is not a dragon bark but a “big grouper”, its common name is still “dragon bark”. It is characterized by a huge body up to 200 cm, and its head is gray-green or light brown, with dark colors scattered. Round spots, elastic flesh without thorns and fishy smell, it is a good material for steaming or soup.
Giant Grouper
The king of grouper – dragon barn
“Saddle-banded grouper” is also known as gentian grouper, that is, the so-called “dragon croaker” or “gentian” scientific name Epinephelus lanceolatus, because it is the largest of all grouper fish, it is called “spot king”, and it is also true the dragon. The largest recorded body size is 270 cm and weighs 440 kg. It is characterized by bulging eye sockets and a fork-shaped sunken scar at the corner of the mouth. Generally, most juvenile fish are yellow, but when they become adults, they will be gray-brown and dark fins. It is a high-priced edible fish, and its skin, gallbladder, and stomach can be used for medicinal purposes. In Queensland, Australia, the saddle grouper is recognized as one of the most representative marine creatures. The fishermen at sea in Southeast Asia regard it as a “fantastic object” incarnated by the Dragon King, hence the name “Dragon”, that is, the pillar of suppression of the sea. “Chong” means “礅”. In 2002, after being reported by the media, he jumped to the Dragon Gate and became the “King of Grouper” with a rising price and rich in collagen.
Culinary Battle
Comparative
Win or Lost
Mrs Liew was photographed at the Eighth Bridge in Sandakan
Potential Marines
Sabah “Seafood Heaven”
Comparison of Malaysia Expensive Groupers and Culinary Standards
Bypassing the West Malaysia Peninsula from the Strait of Malacca is the East Malaysia Sabah and Sarawak in the South China Sea. Although the two places belong to the same country, Malaysia, the fish produced are completely different and the prices are different. Among them, the spotted species have their own names due to the region, and some even share a common name. For example, the “Gillorax” is commonly known as the seven star spot, the Eastern star spot, or the “Gillontia” Tai star spot is called the Eastern star spot. What’s more, it is called the fish in this sea area. In another area, the name of the fish refers to other spotted species. For example, the western star spot is “blue-spotted nine-thorn bass” in Taiwan, and in Malaysia it is “jewel grouper”. genus”. Misunderstood. Even the same spotted species, due to the water, present different tastes. Even if steaming the same spot or erythema, at home to master chefs, restaurants, seafood shops, restaurants, and even fishing village restaurants, whether it is the result of plate setting, cooking, and heating, the skills are different, and they are placed in the same place to compete. Judgment.
The Best Chef
Malaysia
Sabah Humpback grouper
The four new fish kings in Hong Kong, “Mouse Spot”, are the top grade among the spot species. Because of the thorny flesh, the meat is sweet and tender. So it should be steamed.
The picture shows the original steamed steamed by Shi Gongzi’s private kitchen without seasonings. Even if you add salt to enhance the umami, you should sprinkle some salt before serving.
The Battle Between Master Chef
Even the competition between master, still able to distinguish which is better
“Pearl Curtain East Star Spot” displayed by a Chinese national treasure-level Fujian cuisine master
Semporna East Star Spot, Sabah, Malaysia
Plectropomus leopardus, scientific name Plectropomus leopardus, is a rare species in the grouper. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan divide the Eastern Star Spot into four grades, that is, the whole body is pale red or red (Red East), the second is red with black in the middle, and the darker (Australian East). ), three, pink (yangdong), four black spots (heidong). The edible season is from May to August. Although steaming is suitable, for 2 kg of eastern star spot, it is necessary to stir-fry the meat or steam and stew the head and belly, so that the meat quality is refreshing.
This is “Stewed Carp with Vinegar” made by Malaysian disciple of the China famous chef. The main ingredient is Leopard Coral Grouper (Chinese: 东星斑).
The “Golden Seven-Stars Grouper” cooked by an award-winning chef from overseas in Malaysia. The main ingredient is Xi Xing Grouper
Match
RESTAURANT
The picture above is red melon seed spot, also known as tomato spot – the cooking shown in the hotel’s Chinese food department
Whenever a gourmet comes, according to the rules, the cook needs to display the ingredients and explain the cooking method “approved” before serving the dishes in sequence
Hong Kong Steamed “Red Strips” – Large Inland Seafood Restaurant
“Seven Star Spot” belongs to the suborder Percoidei, the family Serranidae, and the genus Cephalopholis. It likes to live at a depth of 150 meters, reefs with clear water, carnivorous, solitary, and only gathers during the breeding season. In the Chinese, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets, it belongs to high-grade seafood. Compared with the scientific name of “red strip” Plectropomus Oligacanthus, there are obvious blue-purple horizontal stripes on the fish surface. Usually people will confuse “seven star spots” with “red strips”. The seven-star-spot has a round body and a large mouth. The lower jaw protrudes beyond the upper jaw. The edges of the caudal fin and anal fin in the rear half of the dorsal fin are dyed with blue edges, but the “red stripes” are absent. Because the public is generally unfamiliar with the knowledge of red stripes and seven-star spots, they are often confused. In fact, the seven-spotted star can be the collective name of all the “star spots” of the genus Pseudomonas, because most of the star spots do not have the feature of horizontal stripes. The picture above shows the chef’s craftsmanship at Seafood Square. Steamed spotted fish is a common recipe in Cantonese cuisine, and the size of the fish directly affects the taste. For freshly steamed fish, the fish will burst a little, which is a normal phenomenon because the meat is still elastic and shrinks when heated. If the steamed fish is complete, but the flesh is not white enough, it may not be fresh. Therefore, the steamed fish should wait for the water to boil before placing the fish, as the key to maintaining the freshness of the fish.
Steamed Strawberry Spot-Traditional Restaurant
Cephalopholis spiloparaea, scientific name Cephalopholis spiloparaea, commonly known as big-headed Zhuge, red cock, strawberry spot, generally orange-red or bright red, with inconspicuous fine black spots on the body, dark red dorsal fins, anal fins and pelvic fins, and some caudal fins up and down The outer edge is transparent or bluish-white. Because it is not affiliated with the fish in the South China Sea of the Malaysian Fisheries Department, it is a transit spotted fish, which is occasionally caught as an expensive species. The fish in the picture above seems to be broken, but in fact, another chef thinks that such an average steaming method can get the fish fresh.
SEAFOOD
Aodong Spot – It is a cultivated spot of the second product of Dongxing Spot. It is characterized by the red and black Aodong. The above picture is also made by a seaside resort dine-in.
Yangdongban – Seafood Building at Sea
This is the breeding “East Star Spot”, the appearance is slightly pink, and it is a third-class product. The difference with the wild is that the wild spot is very aggressive and often hunts marine creatures, so it is brightly colored, while the farmed spot is less active, plump and lighter. The picture on the left is the soy sauce steamed “Yangdongban” cooked in the seafood building of the sea farm.
The common name of “Nine-spined Perch” is Nio, Zhuo, and its appearance is similar to “East Star Spot”, but it is most easily distinguished in the tail fin with two pale white slanting bands, the outside of the oblique band is red and the inside is black and black fins , while the Eastern Star Spot does not have this feature. In terms of body shape, the body of the nine-tailed sea bass is long oval, flat on the side, dark red or reddish-brown at the rear, and has fewer flower spots, while the eastern star spot has a small head and is covered with fine flower spots, so it is often sold instead, and the price is not high. one. The picture on the right shows the seafood cooked by the seaside tourist area.
RESTAURANT
Pictured above Malaysia Sabah Star Spot – Premium Seafood Restaurant
“Fish Fresh” does not need any seasoning, just steam the “Xixingban” meat until the meat sticks to the bone for about nine mature. Before the guests pick up the chopsticks, let the remaining temperature cook just right, so as not to live up to the original taste and sweetness. The above picture shows the steaming method of the seafood restaurant. Regardless of the size of the restaurant, that is, accepting gourmets, you have to do it according to their orders.
All star spots are collectively referred to as “seven star spots”-Fan Restaurant
Teochew Steamed Thai Star Spot – Fishing Village Restaurant
The genus Perciformes, the family Serranidae, and the genus Plectropomus, the Chinese species name of Perciformes, was named by Bloch in 1790. Although it is similar to the eastern star spot, the spots are large and elongated, and there are long stripes on the head and gill cover.
Knowledge
Grouper without “Names”
In fact, all groupers belong to the order of Perciformes, the family Serranidae, and the sub family of Epinephelinae, which are commonly called as “groupers”. It can be divided into genus of Epinephelus, Cephalopholis, Variola, Aethaloperca, Plectropomus and etc. In the Malaysia fish market, almost all groupers sold are belongs to Epinephelinae. They are similar in size and have little difference in appearance. In addition, groupers like to live alone, and largely associate with reefs at night. They will also gather during the breeding season. The grouper is protogyny which function as a female and later as a male. Due to the high economic value of grouper, it has been cultivated artificially. It is commonly seen that groupers in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau are raising and the wild fishing is rare. As for the edible grouper, according to the data, most of them are humpback grouper, leopard coral grouper, tomato hind, duskytail grouper, tiger grouper, etc., and there are total of 24 species of wild grouper that seen commonly in Malaysia. Even if the grouper with red spots or brown spots have different grades of value, but the fish dealers only care for selling high prices only, and will not go into the scientific name. For consumers, as long as there are spots, they will thought it is expensive and precious species.
Aethaloperca Genus
- Aethaloperca rogaa: Red mouth grouper, (Malay: Kerapu Batu, Kerapu Mulut Merah), the flesh is fresh and sweet, available for all types of cooking method.
- Anyperodon leucogrammicus: Slender rockcod, suggests to steam and soup.
Cephalopholis Genus
- Cephalopholis boenak: Chocolate Hind, also known as Indian Grouper. It is rare to see market, usually use to make soup. (Malay: Kerapu Tenggarong, Kerapu Belang Perang)
- Cephalopholis cyanostigma: Bluespotted hind, also known as Xi Xing Grouper/ West Stars Grouper (Chinese:西星斑, Malay: Kerapu Bintik Biru, Kerapu Karang). Xi Xing Grouper normally have larger and round spots, thick in skin and strong flesh, so normally the meat is take out and friend into ball shape or simmer.
- Cephalopholis Formosa: Bluelined Grouper, Malay: Ikan Kerapu Garis Biru。
- Cephalopholis Miniata: Coral Grouper, in Taiwan called in as Qi Xing Grouper/Seven-Stars Grouper (Chinese: 七星斑), Malay: Kerapu bara
- Cephalopholis sonnerati: Tomato Hind, can be steam or braised.
- Cephalopholis urodeta: Darkfin hind, also able to steam, fry or braise.
Cromileptes Genus
- Cromileptes altivelis: Humpback grouper, or called as mouse grouper (Chinese: 老鼠斑), expensive grouper. Malay: Kerapu Tikus, Kerapu Belida, Sunoh.
Epinephelus Genus
- Epinephelus amblycephalus: Banded grouper.
- Epinephelus areolatus: Areolate Grouper, also called as large-spotted grouper, Xi Xing grouper.
- Epinephelus bleekeri: Duskytail Grouper, Malay: Ikan Kerapu Ekor Gelap
- Epinephelus coioides: Orang spotted grouper.
- Epinephelus fasciatus: Malay: Ikan Kerapu Sirip Hitam, Kerapu Merah。
- Epinephelus Fuscoguttatus: Tiger grouper.
- Epinephelus heniochus: Bridled grouper.
- Epinephelus latifasciatus: Striped grouper.
- Epinephelus malabaricus: Malabar grouper.
- Epinephelus merra: Honeycomb grouper.
- Epinephelus morrhua: the taste ordinary, but abailable for fish soup.
- Epinephelus ongus: White-streaked grouper.
- Epinephelus quoyanus: Longfin grouper.
- Epinephelus sexfaciatus: sixbar grouper, Malay: Ikan Kerapu Bebeh
- Epinephelus tauvina: Greasy grouper.
- Epinephelus lanceolatus.
Plectropomus Genus
- Plectropomus leopardus: Leopard coral grouper，also called as Qi Xing Grouper (Chinese: 七星斑).
- Plectropomus maculatus: Barcheek Coral Trout
七星斑百科
Grouper
Encyclopedia
Coral Grouper
Leopard Grouper
Fig. 81 and Fig. 82 are “East Star Spot”, also known as “Leopard Gill Spot”, which is the best among the spotted species, only because the black-spotted and brown oriental spot is not as popular as the round-spotted red oriental spot, so it is not well known. In fact, these two fish belong to the eastern star spot, with a maximum of 13 kilograms and a length of about 4 feet. Because of its appearance, “Swallowtail Star Spot”, whose scientific name is “Bai Yuan Xing Da”, is often sold as a high-grade seafood Dong Xing Spot, and the price is very different.
西星斑
The “blue-spotted nine-thorn bass” in Figure 62 and the “jeweled grouper” in Figure 69 are different species of “West Star Spot”, but most people only recognize the Western Star Spot in Figure 62, but not the Western Star Spot in Figure 69.
俗称七星斑
Fig. 64 “Blue Star Nine-thorned Bass”, often referred to as the Seven Star Spots, is characterized by the round dots on the head extending outward to the elliptical dots without horizontal stripes, but this feature is also mistaken for Western Star Spots.
Figure 70 “Sesame spot”, in addition to the dots, the fish is dark brown, and it is also a noble seafood whose tail is often mistaken for “jewel grouper”. In addition, the meat is tender and tender, and the taste is delicious, so that it is not suspected that it is actually a pockmark.
红斑类
Red Grouper
Figure 65 The steamed characteristics of “Red Melon Seed Spot”, the fish meat is white, the fish taste is strong, and the food tastes good, but there are many chances of encountering the sand skin, that is, the fish meat is rough, so it is second only to the seven-star spot.
Figure 66, The native “red spot”, the characteristics of this fish narrow outward with the black band on the tail, and expand with red on both sides. Because of the low supply of real erythema, it will be used as a substitute for the smooth and sweet sea erythema
Figure 72 Another type of “black edge erythema” is also a fish that is often replaced by erythema. It is characterized by a black line on its dorsal fin. Although the meat is smooth, its tenderness is not inferior to that of Dongxingban, only because of its petite body, thin meat, lack of taste.
China Hong Kong Taiwan
The Grouper Never been Mentioned
First Class Grouper
“Tortoiseshell grouper”, named by Valenciennes in 1930, this fish is not unique to Malaysia, and can also be caught in the western coast of Taiwan. Due to its high economic value, the tortoiseshell grouper can also best express the delicious taste of the spotted species.
“Broadband grouper”, commonly known as broad-spotted scorpion, large grouper, overfish, and catfish, is a rare species of fish. This genus can grow up to 9 feet and weigh 400 kilograms, but its fish is not a dragon, let alone called it. The dragon bark is the “top big grouper”. Different from the “oblique banded grouper”, in comparison, it can only be a medium-sized grouper.
Spotted grouper, commonly known as black spot checkered, Hong Kong called vegetable radish, characterized by black spots with dots inside. It is the most economical fish of Hong Kong people, and it is even more like mouse spot. But the name is not as familiar as Mouse Spot. The “oblique banded grouper”, which also has spots and black spots, is often mistaken for this fish and sold at a high price.
The New Rank in
Hong Kong
Never have Definition to Food
In the 1950s, there was such a ranking in old Hong Kong, the first pomfret, the second 𩷶, and the third Ma Jialang, except that the first and third positions remain unchanged, the first pomfret refers to the fighting pomfret and the white pomfret, and the third pomfret Sanma Jialang is a horse head fish, and the second 𩷶 is a catfish. The scientific name Pangasius is a catfish that lives in the estuary. It is also said that the second scorpion is the green scorpion, the red scorpion and the “silver scorpion”, which are the three kings of Haikou. Because of their silvery-white scales, they are also called blind scorpions, that is, the golden-eyed perch of the barramundi family. , rich in collagen, is a coastal semi, saltwater fish species. This is due to Hong Kong, which was said to have low living standards and poor materials at that time. Today, Hong Kong’s new precious fish indicators have also been changed to the first of the four fish kings, Mouse Spot, No. 2, Su Mei, The third, the sea erythema, the fourth, and the Tsing Yi are distant relatives of the Malaysian parrotfish. An overview of the new four major fish kings in Hong Kong includes actually only two fish families, namely Sumei and Tsingyi, which are ranked second and fourth in the genus Humpidae; kind. In fact, in Malaysia, there are many good fish that are far more expensive than the new four fish kings in Hong Kong. As far as the level of procurement is concerned, we can look at the general situation of Asia’s economy and consumption.
This is a China-Malaysia seafood price list listed in 1999. Regardless of South Malaysia and China, even after 10 years, “Su Mei” is equivalent to “Mouse Spot”. Another kind of “Tsing Yi” that has been inflated in value is the so-called “reef fish”, which also costs RM118, and is almost always used by restaurants for “price”. Among the river fish, it can be seen that there are only Shunke, Batin, and Baixugong, and no other river fish, which shows that eating river fish was not yet popular at that time.
One of the Most Expensive Sefood Dishes in Malaysia
Caviar, Duck Liver and
Humphead Wrasse
Sturgeon Caviar
From France to the whole of Europe, truffles are juxtaposed with caviar and foie gras, known as “the three kings of gourmet” or “the world’s top three delicacies”. Vacuum-packed foie gras can be sliced and steamed, or eaten cold. Although “caviar” is the best, the wild sturgeon that produces caviar is almost on the verge of extinction. Iran is the world’s largest exporter of wild caviar, averaging 430 tons per year. The United States is the largest importer, importing an average of 295 tons per year. 100g of caviar is priced above RM2,600. According to a French survey, 90% of the caviar trade between Russia and the European Union has threatened this precious wild sturgeon known as a living fossil.
Caviar, Foie Gras, Vegetable Sprouts, Baked Sumei Fish in Sauce
The rare Sumei Humphead Wrasse in the waters of Sipadan Island, off the coast of Sabah, East Malaysia, is known as Cheilinus undulatus, also known as Napolean Fish. , sweet, as long as the weight of 2 kg is the best fish. Although Su Mei occupies the top position of seafood, it has also suffered from overfishing and is on the verge of extinction, so that it has been included in Appendix 2 of the Washington Convention. Only license holders can trade Su Mei.
Swimming in the waters of Sipadan Island off Sabah, Malaysia
Labridae
Green Wrasse and
Parrotfish
Sabah Tsing Yi
Ying Go
“Tsing Yi”, the fourth-ranked fish king in Hong Kong, is commonly known as “Whistle-Tooth Boy”. Although his fangs burst out from his lips, he belongs to a kind of parrot, but the parrot has only whistling teeth but no fangs. It is necessary to distinguish the species. , It is necessary to understand from the structure of the tooth plate of the mouth that the upper and lower jaw teeth of the parrotfish are healed into a plate shape, without protruding fangs, and the shape is similar to the mouth of a parrot. The outer edge of the scales is blue or green, and the green coat is “flat tail”, while the parrot is “swallow tail”. It is closely related to the precious fish “Su Mei”. Another darker greenish-green Taiwanese “green coat” is characterized by a forked tail with dark lines. As long as fresh fish, its body must be soft and elastic.
It is wrong to say that “Tsing Yi” is also called “Blue Eyebrow”, because there are only “colored eyebrows” with a reddish-brown fish body, and no “blue eyebrows”, and the so-called “blue eyebrows” are actually blue dots in Taiwan. The parrotfish is also called “Tsing Yi” by its alias, but it is not the “Tsing Yi” that China and Hong Kong call it. The blue-spotted parrotfish belongs to the wrasse suborder Scaridae, which was named by Forsskal in 1775, and Taiwan is mainly rich in blue-spotted and blue-spotted parrotfish.
Most parrotfish inhabit the outer edges of shallow coral reefs. Why are you soft? That is because they often hide in caves and in the sand to secrete mucus to protect the fish. This fish likes to live alone, so the catch is not much. The green-clothed, colorful eyebrows, blue-dotted, and blue-dotted parrotfish are known for their tender and smooth flesh. Only “Tsing Yi” has a plump body, which is suitable for steaming or boiling fresh fish soup.
Blue-spotted Ying Go
26 Types
Malaysia Labridae Family
Cheilinus Genus
- Cheilinus undulates – Humphead wrasse (Chinese: 苏眉 Su Mei). It is also known as the Māori wrasse, Napoleon wrasse, Napoleon fish, Napoleonfish. Expensive freshwater fish.
- Cheilinus chlorourus – Flora Wrasse, edible fish.
- Cheilinus diagrammus – Cheek-lined wrasse, edible fish.
- Cheilinus fasciatus – Red-breasted wrasse, ornamental fish
- Cheilinus trilobatus – Tripletail wrasse, commonly known as color eyebrow (Chinese: 彩眉 Cai Mei), edible fish.
Cheilinus undulates (Su Mei) is not completely two black lines outside the eye socket with protruding forehead, that is the appearance of the older Su Mei. The picture above shows the Su Mei species in Malaysia. In fact, either Su Mei (Chinese: 苏眉), Tsing Yi (Chinese: 青衣) or Ying Wu (Chinese: 鹦鹉鱼) they all belong to the Labridae family, that is, the forehead is raised.
Cheilinus trilobatus (Cai Mei) is the similar species of Cheilinus undulates, but there is no species of “Blue Eyebrow” (Chinese: 蓝眉 Lan Mei)
Choerodon Genus
- Choerodon Schoenleinii – This is the one of the four famous fish in Hong Kong, also known as Blackspot Tuskfish or Green Wrasse (Chinese: 青衣 Tsing Yi). The meat is sticky and suitable for braised.
- Choerodon ancrorago – Orange-spotted Tuskfish, edible and ornamental fish.
Leptoscarus Genus
- Leptoscarus vaigiensis – Marbled Parrotfish, also known as parrotfish (Chinese: 鹦哥 Ying Go) in Malaysia. Edible, but not of economic value, can be braised, steamed or boiled in miso soup.
Scarus Genus
- Scarus ghobban – Blue-barred parrotfish), also known as parrotfish (Chinese: 鹦哥 Yinggo), Green Wrasse (male) (Chinese: 青衣 Tsing Yi). When eating, it is advisable to steam it, or wash the fish body, smear it with salt, and grill it with a warm fire. Malay Name: Ketarap, Bayan Belang Biru
- Scarus javanicus – High-finned parrotfish, edible fish.
- Scarus longiceps – Large-sized edible fish, when eating, marinate with salt and then fry it or grill it with warm fire. Also ornamental fish.
- Scarus niger – Swarthy parrotfish, belongs to medium-sized edible fish and can be marinate with salt and fried.
- Scarus prasiognathos – Singapore parrotfish, also called “Green Chinese Gown” (Chinese: 青衫 Tsing Sam).
- Scarus psittacus – Common parrotfish, edible fish, may steam or roast it with warm fire and salt
- Scarus pyrrhurus – red-tail parrotfish.
- Scarus rivulatus – Scribblefaced Parrotfish, also called “Ying Go 鹦哥” in Chinese. Malay name: Ketarap, Bayan Coreng
- Scarus rubroviolaceus – Ember parrotfish. Edible fish can be used as fish floss, and it tastes good with braised or salted. Feed on algae and benthic organisms.
- Scarus sordidus – Daisy Parrotfish. Medium-sized edible fish. It can be made into fish floss, which can be braised or steamed when eaten. In addition, it also ornamental fish.
Most people have the impression that no matter “Su Mei”, “Tsing Yi” or “Yinggo”, they are all green or cyan. In fact parrotfish also come in red as well as other colors.
Anampses Genus
- Anampses caeruleopunctatus – 青Blue-spotted wrasse, meat is tender and less sweet, and it is also an ornamental fish.
- Anampses geographicas-available for braised or steamed.
According to the statistics of the Bureau of Fisheries, there are more than 26 species of Labridae Family in Malaysia.
Thalassoma Genus
- Thalassoma lunare – Moon Wrasse, edible but normally for ornamental purpose.
Epibulus Genus
- Epibulus insidiator – Single Jaw Fish, Although edible, but there are records of ciguatera poisoning.
Hemigymnus Genus
- Hemigymnus fasciatus –Barred thicklip wrasse, Big fish is edible, suitable for steaming and braised.
- Hemigymnus melanopterus – Half-and-half wrasse.
Xiphocheilus Genus
- Xiphocheilus typus – Blue-banded wrasse
- Xirichthys evides
Figure 275 is an inexpensive Anampses geographicus genus, a distant relative of Green Wrasse, which is often treated as Green Wrasse and sold in high-priced due to its features of cyan color and protruding teeth.
Figure 280 is a “Green Wrasse (青衣 Tsing Yi)” in Malaysia. The cyan is only concentrated on the head, and the fangs burst out. The fish body is not completely cyan.
Figure 298 Scarus Rivalatus, the common name is Tsing Yi or parrotfish, however, it is not the exact “Tsing Yi”.
Above is “Green Chinese Gown (青衫Tsing Sam), it is different with Tsing Yi because Tsing Sam only have flat teeth.
Figure 296 is the Ying Go in Malaysia, it has four raw of flat teeth and without sharp teeth
Seafood Guide
Singapore Common
Fish Types
Excerpted from Lianhe Wanbao, Singapore, 2016
From the Singapore Morning Post 2015
50’s Hong Kong
Famous Fish
From the first pomfret, second 𩷶, and third magalang in the 1950s, to the golden age of seafood eating in Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s, it was also incorporated into rat spot, erythema, Tsing Yi, and flounder that Hong Kong people called “Seven Days Fresh” , Fang Zhi and the three knives, green-tailed fish, white star snapper, and yellow-finned snapper in Chinese waters are not worth the sun for the expensive Su Mei and Star Spot. The reason for this is because of the star spot and even the mouse spot in the South China Sea, this “innumerable” precious fish is treated as salted fish, and it is mistaken for ordinary fish.
first pomfret
“Pomfret” is a precious marine fish in Malaysia. There are two kinds of pomfret that Chinese people like, namely “Double Pomfret” and “White Pomfret”. For the reputation of “the first pomfret” in the 1950s, there was an ancient saying that “pomfret is born in the South China Sea, shaped like a crucian carp body, perfectly round without hard bones, making a delicious soup and eating the best”. Li Shizhen also said, “Changmei is also named after the taste”. The ancients used “Chang” as “豽”, which originated from the misrepresentation of the Hokkien by the Hokkien people, and later became the pomfret. “The ancients treasured it, not only the meat of the pomfret, but also the bones of the fish. No wonder the domestic dog who wanted to taste the bones of the pomfret, Egypt. It’s hard to taste even if you are sleepy.” The reason for this passage comes from Liu Xun’s “Ling Biao Lu Yi” in the Tang Dynasty, so pomfret has the reputation of “dog sleepy fish”. Among them, 1 kilogram is the best, and it should be steamed. It is best to eat the “pomfret nose” that the Cantonese people say, that is, the head of the pomfret.
Pomfret
Steamed Pomfret with Sauce
“Double Pomfret” is the master of the pomfret. It is very expensive and unattainable on weekdays. Only the Chinese New Year will buy it once to celebrate with family members. It is for the “fish king” that is indirectly “expensive to eat”, especially fish. When you get less, it is even more valuable. Pomfret is very valuable, as long as it weighs more than 1 kg, it is the king of “Zheng Dou Pomfret”. Not only is the meat tender and tender, smooth and fatty, fat but not greasy, but also there is only one large bone in the middle with ten small bones and a fragrance. Regular food can strengthen the body, invigorate the qi and nourish the blood, and improve the limbs caused by insufficient blood qi and poor blood circulation. The phenomenon of numbness, while the shape is beautiful, is the reason for its popularity. The next step is to look at the color to show its grade. Black with silver is the best, while the body is petite, and the color is close to blue and white, which is lighter.
steamed white pomfret
The eating period is from the end of this year to the beginning of the next year. Because the meat is moderately soft and hard, and the freshness is sufficient, it can be used as sashimi. Fish bones are used for deep frying, sprinkle a little salt, and serve as a side dish for wine.
“White pomfret” in the fish genus Pomfret suborder Stromateoidei, Pomfret family Stromateidae, Pomfret genus Pampus Chinese species is named silver pomfret rather than white pomfret. Named by Euphrasen in 1788. It mainly inhabits places where the flow of sandy and muddy bottoms is slow until it swims to the upper waters at night. It is also a seasonal migratory fish. During the spawning season, they swim to shallow water to lay eggs and forage.
“Black pomfret” that is not a pomfret
Different from the “black pomfret”, which belongs to the suborder Percoidei, the family Carangidae, and the genus Parastromateus, the Chinese name is “black pomfret”, commonly known as “black pomfret”, which was named by Bloch in 1795. Mainly inhabits sandy and muddy bottoms near sea, prefers slow tide environment. The habit is the same as that of bucket pomfret and white pomfret, and the prolific period is from October to March of the following year.
第二𩷶
Steamed catfish head
The second 𩷶 refers to the estuarine catfish, which are similar to pond lice when they are young, mainly in the small dorsal fin of the catfish and the large pond lice, and the other refers to the second prongs are the green squid, red squid, Haikou silver squid, and golden perch. The third is Magalang, which is horse head fish. For details, see “Affordable Fish” below.
The Three Fish in River Mouth
In addition to the first pomfret in the mouth of the old Hong Kong, the Chinese people say the second 𩷶 or the second bridle, which refers to the second “Red Cao” of the three kings of Haikou, and the third “Silver bridle”, which is the golden eye perch, and the rest are the green perch. bridle.
第二鰽
Big Bowl Fish
The classification of golden perch belongs to the suborder Percoidei, the family Centropomidae, and the genus of barramundi Lates. The Chinese species name is “barramundi”, commonly known as blind slot, silver slot, and golden perch. It was named by Bloch in 1790. This fish likes to live in sea mouths in semi-bright and salty water areas, and sometimes enters the middle and lower reaches of rivers or swims overseas to live, so it can be seen in oceans, rocky areas, rivers, and lakes. Good adaptability to water quality The early brackish and freshwater golden perch were extremely expensive. Someone once caught freshwater barramundi with a tail of 6 feet long and a weight of 1/4 of a ton, showing that they were the top predatory large fish. The price is popularized after feeding. Because it is extremely rich in protein, it is believed to have the effect of promoting wound healing. In Malaysia, it is often cooked by steaming, frying and boiling.
Taiwan
Famous Fish
For Taiwanese, they ranked the fish in “Wu (午) first, Mian (𩾃) second, and Jia La the third (嘉𫚭)”. Among them, Wu refers to threadfin (午鱼), Mian is commonly known as “Miichthys miiuy (鮸仔鱼)”, which is not seen in Southeast Asia, and Jia refers to “Pagrus major (真鲷)”. In China, pagrus major called as “Jia Ji (加吉鱼)”, Hong Kong named it Li fish (立鱼) and in Malaysia called it “Red Snapper (红鲷)”. The body is tall and flat on the side, long oval, up to 50 cm long. The fish is reddish with light blue spots, the trailing edge of the tail fin is black, and the head is large and small. It is the expensive and high standard fish in Taiwan and Japan and also one of the “Top Ten Delicious Fish”.
The sea bream, in the order of classes, are known as black sea bream, white sea bream, yellow fin sea bream, yellow sea bream, flat sea bream. The red sea bream is the best among it. It is tender, light and fragrant in taste, without fishy smell. Its plump fish head makes a pleasing flavour, so there is a saying that “the head of Jiaji and the tail of mackerel (Chinese: 鲅鱼 Bayu) is the best”. It can be boiled in sea water without salt and oil. Second, because oil of the fish eye able to coat the fish body instead of oil, so the high standard banquets will served the “fish eyes” of sea bream exclusively for distinguished guests. Due to the protection of comb scales, so the flesh of fish able to maintain stable quality. Therefore, when choose this kind of fish, just observe its red pigment reaction, for bright color is the best, dark gray is the second, the red colour fades and soft in body are the worst. Folks believe that eating Jiaji fish often can cure rheumatism and low back pain.
For Taiwan, there is another quote of “Threadfin (鯃 Wu equivalent to 午 Wu) the first, Golden Pomfret (红魦 Hong Sha) second, Chang (鲳) third, Majiao (马鲛) forth, Mian (鮸) fifth, Jia La (嘉𫚭) sixth, Chi Zong (赤鯮) seventh, Ma Tou (马头) eight, Wu Hou (乌喉) ninth, Cunzi (寸子) tenth”. For winter it is best to eat Jia La (嘉𫚭) while spring is Mian (鮸).
上图为日本”真鲷“钓获证
Outsider and
Foreign Fish
Airport Steamed Cod Head
“Cod” is a large fish with a body size of about 1 meter long. Most restaurants serve it in the form of fillets. The fresh meat is slightly pink, while the frozen meat is white. Because it is very soft and tender, it is rich in fat. It is the most common match. Crispy steaming with spring onion, ginger or garlic, as well as frying and roasting, can taste the fresh and real fish taste, while fish head is rarely used for steaming, and is mostly used for fish soup. It is best eaten from December to February of the following year. Round cod is rich in vitamins A and D. It is excellent for men and women who are weak in stomach and lose weight. It has the effect of strengthening stomach and digestion, cooling blood and calming liver, clearing heat and detoxifying, and lowering blood pressure. In general, cod is divided into two types: round cod and flat cod. Round cod is white cod, which belongs to the order of perciformes. The meat is elastic and the price is more expensive about RM180, while flat cod is halibut, also known as star plaice, yong plaice, and the fish is fragile and cheap, 1 kg 60 Ringgit, the disadvantage is that the water is easy to be boiled. Another kind of cod, the “oil fish”, is a mackerel, not a round or flat cod. Because the oil contains wax, the value is not high. However, these three kinds of cod are only the commonly known cod in the market. The real cod should be “Alaska pollock”, also known as yellow line pollock. As the most consumed edible fish in the world, it is usually used for processed fish fillets. Like the cod, it has become a cod fort in fast food restaurants, western cod steaks, and sashimi in restaurants. It is easy to sell due to its low price. Sea bass can nourish the liver, the waist and legs are sore and weak, it can relieve cough and reduce phlegm, help wounds heal, and is beneficial to patients after surgery.
Japanese saury sashimi
“Saury”, the order Beloniformes, the family Scomberesocidae, the genus Cololabis, the scientific name Cololabis Saira, is taken from the name of this fish in the Kii Peninsula of Japan. The name “autumn knife” comes from its slender body like a knife and it should be made in autumn, so it is called “the taste of autumn” by the Japanese. Since the Asuka era in Japan, saury has been a time-signaling fish, symbolizing the passing of the sweltering heat and representing abundance and happiness. Due to a large number of fishing in Japan, the saury has dropped from 140,000 tons in 2016 to 4.5 tons in 2019, so the price per kilogram is almost 11,000 yen, about MYR 400, and a kilogram of 40,000 yen has also been auctioned. high price. In Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu’s “Saury Love”, saury is an indispensable festive fish among the three major events in Japanese life, marriage, employment, and childbirth. And in the autumn of Japanese appetite, the saury represents the bleak loneliness of autumn, and represents the joys and sorrows of life. In fact, the taste of saury is more like the umami that women are easily attracted to men, and it can tempt men to be greedy like cats and never get tired of eating.
The First Made
by Food Critic
If there is a “whole fish feast” in the ancient Chinese table, why can’t the west have a “full feast”? Therefore, gourmets take salmon as the theme and require cooks who have returned from Australia to prepare a salmon dinner with various Western dishes or disassemble them. They can also display the salmon table in food magazines to familiar customers as a menu and serve as a menu for people in the industry. The essence is like appreciating the craftsmanship of famous teachers and being hand-picked by gourmets, thereby improving the reputation of the restaurant. A three-win situation. Although salmon is an exotic fish that is usually eaten, as long as it is packaged properly, it can also become a high-end feast.
Salmon Banquet
The most expensive salmon in the world – king salmon
Salmon is generally considered to be a type of fish or a collective term, but in fact salmon is just a type of salmon. And “salmon” belongs to the family Salmonidae, and the order Salmoniformes refers to two fish genera, namely salmon and trout. “Salmon” Salmon, usually refers to the Atlantic species of “Salmonidae” collectively, while the Pacific species is called Daw imaha. There are more than 300 species of salmonids alone, among which the more commercially valuable salmonids are mostly Atlantic salmonids and North Pacific salmon. Some merchants also use land-sealed rainbow trout as salmon for sale. The “trout” fish are blunt snout salmon and trout trout, which are often regarded as salmon species in European and American countries. Therefore, the dispute between “true and false salmon” in mainland China “whether rainbow trout salmon can be eaten raw” has been triggered. Although trout, salmon, Atlantic species, or Pacific species belong to the same genus of salmon, the Pacific species are more orange in color and more expensive than their Atlantic counterparts. The price of rainbow trout depends on whether it is migratory, and if it is land-sealed, it is cheap. In addition, the price of Pacific salmon is determined by the freshness of the fish species.
<Alternative full banquet with salmon>
King Salmon
The scientific name of “king salmon” is Chinook salmon, which is produced in Japan, Bering Sea, Alaska, and Canada’s brackish waters, and is also the “national fish” of Alaska. Living in the ocean for three to eight years, it will migrate and spawn, after which large areas of red patches appear on the body of silver-white fish. , the tail is silver with black spots, and the edges are black
Migratory spawning “Salmon”
Sugar Free Ice Cream Frozen Salmon Sashimi and Seeds
The curly flower-shaped salmon sashimi is not like the general white lines with intervals, but the meat is taken out between the two lines and covered with salmon roe. The reason why Japanese sashimi is expensive is that all materials must be fresh, the color is not fresh, it is not good-looking, and the taste is not right, it must be thrown away. What’s more, it was done by a chef from a five-star hotel in the tourist area of Bangkok, Thailand.
The Famous Fish
in China
“Fish Dictionary”
Gourmets believe that the best part of the big-sized fish should be from inner, that is, the fish belly (swim bladder), the liver, the intestines, and the eggs, to the outside is the skin, head, tail, and flesh. For the fish head, it is better to eat the “flesh” on its cheek which is on the gill cover. Jacky once ate a plate of “fish cheek meat” in a private dinner of a wealthy family, he wondered how many fish heads needs in this dish?
Since ancient times, people have had a special affection for fish. In the past, the primitive man hunting bison, goat and forest deer to eat, in fact, the image of fish appeared in painted pottery totem more than 7,000 years ago in the Yangshao period. Some said the prehistorical creatures used to live in water and later evolved to live on land.
Osmanthus fish – mandarin fish, sushi family, mandarin fish
In 2012, Shi Gongzi was greedy for “Osmanthus Fish”, one of China’s freshwater fish. A month later, Brother Wen Feng, the general manager of Yanwu Golf Club, imported the fish and invited the Secretariat of the Chief Minister of Malacca and several senior officials and gourmets to kiss Fang Ze. In the past, this cheap and high-quality mandarin fish is now worth a hundred times more. For this kind of fish, you can use the “ancient steaming” of shredded mushrooms, half-fat shredded pork and shredded ginger. “Guangfu steamed” or “Hong Kong steamed” with steamed fish soy sauce, this fish tastes better. Another “squirrel mandarin fish” should be “squirrel mandarin fish”, which is a type of fish cooked on a knife, not a “mandarin fish”. In China, sweet-scented osmanthus fish is worthy of the name “Guiyu”, because the average edible fish is more than 10 yuan, but the mandarin fish has risen to 40 yuan per catty.
Since ancient times, people have had a special affection for fish. In the past, the primitive man hunting bison, goat and forest deer to eat, in fact, the image of fish appeared in painted pottery totem more than 7,000 years ago in the Yangshao period. Some said the prehistorical creatures used to live in water and later evolved to live on land.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, the status of fish was comparable to that of bear’s paw. Mencius, an ancient gourmet sighed that “you can’t have both fish and bear’s paw at the same time”, which later come out with vast of description to the “fish” in Chinese history, for example, the allusion of “fishes are always willing to be caught by angler of Jiang Taigong”, the story of Liao, King of Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period almost died under the sword named fish intestines. In addition, there was a man called Zhang Jiying who gave up his post because of the raw fish dishes in his hometown.
To this day, many people still regard there must be fish as a delicacy for entertaining guests. When Chinese people come to the restaurant, they must order fish first. Even the aquariums displayed outside the restaurant are all fish, but there has never been a restaurant that has tied a cow or a duck in front of the store. That’s because a feast without fish is not considered a good one, no matter how rich it is. In the past, a red paper-cut with phrase “Nian Nian You Yu (prosperity throughout whole year)” will put on the fish, it is customary to show it to the host and then remove it as a sign of good omen. Among them, there is a dish named “head and tail”, which is to chop off the flesh of the fish and beat it into a pulp, then immerse the fish head and tail with the skeleton in the egg liquid and steam it. End up, it will present that only tail and fish exposed out of the egg. This means “every beginning has an end and every end has a new beginning”.
What is the top grade of “fish”?
According to the Chinese, the four types of top-grade fish are “bream”, “culter”, “carp”, and “Carassius”. Because of the vastness of mainland China and its five major water systems, more attention is paid to river fish and less marine fish[2].In particular, the northerners like to treat fresh carp as a main dish, especially Shanxi people who love sweet and sour cooking methods to carp, and Henan people are also proud of the expensive Yellow River carp. Even the most famous gourmet, Confucius, named his son “Li (carp)”, which shows that carp was precious in ancient times. Southerners think that the flesh of carp has an earthy smell and should not be eaten. However, the northerners also turn their nose up to the southerners for loving to eat crucian carp, so the standard of deliciousness depends on the area.
Cantonese Yusheng
Cantonese people loves “Yusheng” very much and often take carp as the ingredient for raw fish dish or used to steam. Some slice the fish and steam it with two pieces of pork fat, which is now the practice of “unicorn fish dish” in Guangdong restaurant. In addition, if the Guangdong restaurant served the “white eel” must be with a silver basin. Although the fresh white ell is good in taste, but it has the disadvantage of easily to be over tender. Eel should be eaten in the spring which the fat is the richest and the meat is softer. In the Republic of China era, inviting people to eat eel is a symbol to show the respect and status. In fact, the Japanese love to eat eel, and they are exported to China at a sky-high price until it turns out no one cares about. Because of Japan’s invasion of China, the Chinese spread rumors that eel often to drill into dead bodies, and feed with intestines of dead people, so Chinese people discarded and not eaten it. In fact, eel has high nutritional value, and it has a therapeutic effect on people with consumptive fatigue, rubella, hemorrhoids, athlete’s foot and other symptoms. It can also improve eyesight, nourish blood, and improve immunity.
In the Songhua River in northeastern China, the locals, similar to the Cantonese, have their own special way of eating fish, that is, as soon as the fish is caught from the water, they shredded the fish in the boat and eaten in raw. This is similar to the Guangxi Dong people eating raw fish fillets.
In Guangdong, Chaozhou people must have “mullet” when they reach 18 and during the capping ceremony was held. For Jiangsu and Zhejiang people, the mullet which belongs to grass carp is only worth slightly more than silver carp. They think that grass carp and carp are herbivore and it is not as expensive as carnivorous fish, so in inland China, some people will use bream, culter, osmanthus fish, and herring instead of bream, culter, carp, and crucian carp to show the respect to the guests.
On the other hand, Ningbo people like the most expensive fish in the world which is the sharp-headed yellow croaker, but it was a cheap fish during the Republic of China era. At present, most of the round-headed yellow croakers are farmed in the China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and the “wild yellow croaker” is nearly extinction and has become the most expensive fish in the world.
For southerners to eat fish, it is even more versatile. One fish can be cooked into two flavors and three ways of cooking methods, such as fish head soup, fish belly stir-fry, fish tail steaming and even extended to “whole fish feast”. It is a way of eating that northerners have never thought of, but it all appears in southern fish dishes.
The Ranking of Fish
In addition to the traditional bream, culter, carp, and crucian carp, there is also a saying that “Salamander” that currently listed as a second-class protected animal in China which has rarely been tasted was said to be the most delicious fish. However, biological experts have classified Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) as reptiles, and they are not considered “fish”. In addition, the “mudskipper”, also known as Chinese salamander, has poor meat quality because of its growing environment, and people will not deliberately catch it, except for the sea aborigines in Malaysia often take it as food.
As for loach, which has always been regarded as a low-grade fish, Yunnan regards it as a high-class dish. Sichuan people also like to cook hot pot with loach meat. The “loach enter into tofu” is the banquet dish in the ancient time. In Taihu, there is also a fish called “whitebait” which has visible internal organs and is almost transparent. It is a bit like the “glass catfish (Kryptopterus bicirrhis)”, but much smaller. Locals use it to make soup or scrambled eggs. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the ancients named it as “kuài cán fish (脍残鱼)”. There is also another similar type of fish, Xiamen Wenchang fish which a national first-class protected fish.
Among the brackish and freshwater fish, that is, the fishes that are active in the lower reaches of sea mouth, many of them will swim from the sea to the waters where fresh and brackish waters meet to spawn according to the season. Such migratory fish appear for a very short time, it is extremely lucky to be able to eat its meat. The taste just like fat melts in the mouth. In addition, sea mouth is a predation ground for large fish. Because the seawater and the brackish water of the river meet to form a turbid warm current, it has become the best shelter for large fish, so the fish caught there are also delicious. It has to be mentioned that another large fish named “Longsnout catfish” appears in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It has a huge mouth, no scales, mucus on the body, flesh in characteristic of rich in oil and smooth, lack of fish bone and has been regarded as a top-quality fish. It’s enjoy the equal popularity with puffer and saury. In every spring, it will swim back to the sea mouth from the sea to give birth and be preyed on by the human.
Poisonous puffer fish
Among the dangerous fish, puffer will be the one. But the deliciousness of the puffer has been described as early as the Song Dynasty by the poet Su Dongpo. Puffer is migratory fish. Its skin, blood, eggs, internal organs and other toxic substances have to be removed and washed before consume. Due to the puffer will inhale a lot of water to let the abdomen swells to expose the spikes, forming a protective and poisonous armor, so the common “chicken thigh fish (鸡腿鱼; malay: Ikan Buntal)” in Malaysia is also a kind of puffer fish. In 2008, there was a poisoning incident of eating chicken thigh fish happened in Pontian, Malaysia and leads to puffer has never been sold locally for decades. Chicken leg fish is divided into many colours, such as cyan, black or brown, and spots, only yellow is edible, and it must be handled with special precautions. Generally, the head of the fish, along with the skin, liver and gallbladder, is removed immediately after catching, so as to avoid negligently eaten. Otherwise, there might also be resulting in accidental rupture of the liver and gallbladder if it is not fresh. Nowadays, puffer fish is probably one of the most expensive fish because of its artistic high price. Therefore, a professional license is required for chefs to handle fugu (the name of puffer in Japanese). Even in China, there is a rumour that eating puffer must be tried before the Qingming Festival.
According to a journal report in the issue 13 of 2008 published by the University of Malaya, a total of 32 species of puffer fish can be seen in Malaysia, and all species have toxins in their skin, testis, flesh and internal organs, including the yellow puffer fish originating from the South China Sea and later was introduced into the Sarawak River Basin, so the local residents are quite skilled in handling this fish. The yellow puffer fish only occurs twice a year, that is, in the middle of the year and at the end of the year. The fisherman will go fishing in the river at night with lights, so that the capital of Sarawak Mudong Province often holds a puffer fish event and becomes a scenic spot in the area.
The type of Puffer
According to the species, the Yellow Pufferfish can be divided into three types, Lunartail puffer (Malay: Buntal Pisang), Silver-cheeked toadfish (Malay: Buntal Kerisi biasa), Half-smooth golden pufferfish (Malay: Buntal Kerisi Kodok). The Buntal Pisang looks like banana, thick lips, blue-gray head, yellow skin. The Buntal Kerisi Biasa is small but long in body, gray-brown, with black spots. The Buntal Kerisi Kodok is orange, larger and round. The so-called “chicken thigh fish” mostly refers to the Buntal Pisang. The Malaysian yellow puffer fish is different from the Japanese and China puffer fish, which is Fugu in English. When Fugu encounters a predator, it will inhale a lot of air in the water, causing its body to swell and release spikes as a poisonous armor protection. Fugu carries the puffer toxin Tetrodoxin, which can cause breathing difficulties and death, while the yellow puffer fish has the Nerotoksin.
Wolfhering Noodles and Fish Ball
Another type of fish called Wolfhering (Chinese: 西刀鱼, Malay: Ikan Parang) in Malaysia. It is famous for its long, thin and dense fork bones. Therefore it is hard to remove the bones when eat it. Normally, the eater would hold the head of the fish with their hands, use a spoon from top to bottom, scrape the flesh from the bone, or pick up a piece of meat with chopstick when eating, and put it into the mouth. There is also a way to wrap the fish with gauze and squeezed the meat out, then the bones will left in the gauze. Later, it can made into fish noodles or fish balls.
The “mullet” that Chaozhou people come out of the garden is regarded as a high-end delicacy in China, Taiwan and even Japan.
The “mullet” belongs to the order Mugiliformes, the family Muglidae, and the genus Mugil, and was named by Linnaeus in 1758. Mullet likes to live in estuaries and harbors and enter fresh water for food. It can adapt to different water quality environments and feed on diatoms and other aquatic products on the surface of sand and mud, so it has a grassy smell in its body. Both belong to migratory fish, the breeding season is from October to January of next year. Therefore, it is also called “the letter fish”. The amount of eggs conceived can reach 7 million per tail, which is the raw material of the precious food “mullet roe”. At present, both wild mullet and farmed fish have the best fishy taste around the winter solstice. Therefore, it is the spawning season. The female fish has eggs and the male fish has a fat maw and fat. The testis of the male fish is precious in the “mullet fat”. The ovary is the “mullet roe” and the stomach sac of the mullet, commonly known as the “mullet nap”, which is better than the nap of chickens and ducks. The belly is cut open, and the mullet after taking a nap is called “mullet shell”, which is an excellent material for cooking rice noodles. All were regarded as treasures by people in the past, especially the value of “fish swim bladder” and “mullet roe” rose frequently. Since autumn, the fishy smell is low and the fish bones are few. The fish body should be cylindrical, firm and elastic, and the fish body should be silver-gray. Because the meat of mullet is hard, it should be steamed, boiled in soup or half-decoated. For “steaming”, it should be paired with heavy seasoning to stimulate the deliciousness of the fish.
Li Shizhen wrote “Compendium of Materia Medica” in 1590, “The mullet is named after the black mullet, and the Cantonese is falsely called the mullet. It was born in the East China Sea and looks like a herring. Rex likes to eat it, and Wuyue people think that the best product is marinated as mullet wax. Legend has it that it can nourish and strengthen yang, and it is also a good fish for maternal lactation. In Taiwan, mullet roe is dried in the sun, and then roasted and sliced into thin slices. It has been promoted from a snack to a handmade dish.
“Fish Noodles” is a kind of noodle that is made of fish meat and looks like noodles. It is not common in Malaysia. In 2000, it was only RM6. It is said to have originated from TeoChew and later spread to Manjung County, Perak, Ipoh, and then to Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, but it is still rare in restaurants.
which part of fish is the best
For the best part of fish, most gourmets will recommend the “fish tail”. They are thinking that the fish tail moves the most, so the meat quality is also the best. Therefore, the ancients listed “carp’s tail” as one of the Eight Treasures, but in the Southeast Asia took “grass carp’s tail” as the best. Jacky Liew in opinion that which part of the fish should be eaten depends on the season. For example, it is best to eat fish heads in spring, tails in summer, dorsal fins in autumn, and belly in winter. That is to say, the fish in the spring is about to lay eggs, the blood and energy of the body are all concentrated in the head, and the essence is also at there. In summer, the water temperature is high, the plankton in the water is more than abundant, the fish have to swim for food, the number of tail swings is relatively high. In autumn, the fish starts to grow fat, and the meat on the back is the thickest. In winter, when it gets colder, the belly of the fish has fat. Therefore, eating fish depends on the month, rather than sticking to the fix parts wrote by the past writers.
Realm
Between Death and Alive
Jacky is good at eating fish and pays attention to “freshness”. In the mid-1980s, a fresh eating method that was emphasized during the recovery period of China’s diet, by definition, must be fried and eaten from the moment it is caught. According to this reasoning, Jacky requested chef to take out the belly part of the shark, “fried it quickly” and put it back into the plate, and the shark could still be seen breathing and the fish body swaying. It fully shows the wildness and cruelty of “fried freshly”.
However, the knowledge of eating fish does not stop there. The gourmets will choose the two pieces of gill meat next to the fish’s eyes. Although the area is small, a fish has only two face meat, but its taste is better than any part of the fish. This is because the flow of oxygen through the gills. The DHA and vitamin A around the fish head and fish eyes are beneficial to blood vessel and skin care.
In addition, although the gills of the grouper are large and have the most meat, but they are not as good as the skin of it. Because the cleaner wrasse, commonly known as the doctor fish, cleans up the dead skin and promotes metabolism of the grouper. Sharks have no scales and need to eat a lot of fat in the sea to resist the cold. The high-calorie fat accumulates on the epidermis to form a gelatin which containing collagen, so its belly is the most delicious. The best parts of fish has to be discussed from the fish’s eating habits. Don’t think that fish bones can be neglected, but calcium and other minerals are concentrated on it, which can help strengthen teeth and bones. The high content of taurine in cartilage and even fish tendons can reduce blood lipids and cholesterol, and the fish skin contains more vitamins A and B2 than fish meat. Fish also rich in high-quality protein and calcium, and taurine, which is a fresh amino acid, has the effect of improving eyesight and lowering cholesterol.
“Crucian carp” of China’s four major freshwater fish “bream, culter, carp, and crucian carp”
“Crucian carp” belongs to the Cyrinidae family, the genus Carassius, this species was named by Linnaenus in 1758. The crucian carp is native to China. The emigration wave of Ming and Qing dynasties introduced the crucian carp to Taiwan. It mostly inhabits diving waters with aquatic plants in freshwater waters. When the water temperature drops, it will hide in the depths of the water. Only in summer will it be close to the river bank. It is omnivorous. The breeding period is from March to May. The characteristics of crucian carp are mostly silver-black and the colour of the abdomen is lighter, which is silver-white. The colour of the fins as a whole is gray and black. Without whiskers, with larger round scales and attached lateral lines. Its characteristics are that the colour of the fish body will change with the environment. After catching it, the fish will deteriorate with lack of freshness and reducing the skin smoothness and transparency. So it will turn white when it is not fresh, making the fish body lose its elasticity. Due to the rich fat, the taste is particularly smooth, the meat is soft but brittle, and the fish bones are extremely fine. Therefore, the fish should be immersed in ice water first, so that the meat will not loosen and maintain its freshness. “Crucian carp” has the function of promoting blood circulation, nourishing body and strengthening the spleen. It is suitable for people with weak spleen and stomach, abdominal pain and easy diarrhea. Therefore, it is necessary to buy live ones for cook and use a few drops of vinegar to soften the fish bones and make them easy to fry.
The Normal Price Level Fish
in 90’s H.K. Magazine
In 2000, “Yellow Croaker” listed as the cheap fish by the Hong Kong Food and Beverage Magazine, by 2020, it has become one of the most expensive fish in the world.
In the 1950s, Horsehead fish (Branchiostegus) was ranked the third as Magalang (Chinese: 马加郎), and perch was one of the four famous freshwater fishes.
Monster in the sea
The fisherman does not necessarily know the scientific name and genus of fish. After all, they are not a professor or an oceanographer, so it is common to unfamiliar with fish that have never appeared in this sea area. After all, the sea knows no borders, and some fish, which would not have appeared in the waters originally, were appears due to certain variables in the ocean. And most of the fish names are inherit from the past generation and some are named in dialects, so that there may be names in southern Malaysia that are different from northern Malaysia and eastern Malaysia which may causing confusion.
As a person who likes to eat, you have to eat food that you have never eaten before, or you have already tasted and liked the food. These two basic requirements able to fulfill by taste to this “sea monster” just freshly catch up in the strait. The local people called it as “Tiger Striped Stingray”. The another species with smaller spot is “Leopard Stingray”, which is rare to see and can be up to 5 meters long. Even if it has been booked for several years, but has never been seen once. It is different from ordinary stingrays, which its flesh are smooth with its special fragrance.
“水怪头”
一尾“虎纹魟鱼”1公斤市价RM35，若45公斤此鱼价值即是RM1350。观其肉质组织，已知是物超所值的顶级鱼类
The eyes of Monster Fish
A thorough eyeball is an indicator of the freshness of the fish.
According to the “Local Names of Marine Fish in Malaysia“, there are more than 12 common local stingrays, among which 3-4 species have spots, among which Figure 29 (Fig.29) Himantura Uarnak species has spots or honeycomb patterns, commonly known as leopard or tiger stingray.
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