Chinanews.com, Jiangmen, May 24th, title: Sunshine Spots: The "Little Overlord in Water" who cooks soup in Taishan, the hometown of overseas Chinese in Guangdong
Author Li Xiaochun Guo Jun
"Auntie Liang, morning! There are wild sun spots today, 80 yuan per kilogram (RMB, the same below), the big ones are seven or eighty-two, and the small ones are two and three. If they are used to cook soup, they will be no problem in size. If it is used for steaming, try to choose a larger one. During this period of time, there is little rain and not many sunlight spots are captured. Recently, only about 10 kilograms were purchased from nearby towns and towns every day. When the amount is small, only two or three kilograms. It’s not even in stock. If you’re afraid that you won’t be able to buy it, please call or send a WeChat message in advance next time to say, and reserve some for you. Don’t be afraid of a trip for nothing.” May 24, aquatic product stall at Fucheng Market, Taicheng, Taishan, Guangdong When attracting regular customers, he said that after the start of the summer fishing moratorium in the South China Sea this year, fresh or chilled seafood is scarce and the prices are relatively high, causing wild freshwater fish such as sun spots to be very popular.
Four-flavor Soup in Sunshine Pot Photograph by Li Xiaochun
In Taishan, the sun-spots, which are called "Little Overlord in the Water" because of their ferocious predation, are the best ingredients for cooking soup. The soup cooked by the locals is delicious and has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, removing toxins, and promoting muscle growth. Because it promotes wound healing, nourishes blood, nourishes yin, replenishes qi and strengthens the body, it is favored by many people.
The stall owner handles the sun spots for customers. Photo by Li Xiaochun
It is understood that the sun spots referred to by the people of Taishan are the seven-star Channa, also known as the moon Channa, Seven-star fish, Zhang male fish, mountain spotted fish, mountain buckwheat fish, spot scale fish, star fish, etc. They mainly inhabit rivers, lakes and streams. The shallower waters of ditch ponds feed on fish, shrimps, and aquatic insects. They have living habits such as being gloomy, burrowing, burrowing, foraging at night, and jumping.
The head is large and broad and flat, the snout is short and blunt, the mouth is large, the nasal tube is thick, and the upper lip is stretched forward; the body is straight and long and rod-shaped, and the whole body is covered with medium-sized round scales. The dorsal and anal fins are well-developed, without pelvic fins, and behind the caudal fin. The margin is round; the body is greenish-brown, light yellow or dark black. There is an obvious black eye spot on the base of the tail fin, and the whole body is covered with pearl-colored bright spots.
Steamed with salty catfish in the sun, photo by Li Xiaochun
"Although the weather is hot recently, there are also many diners who come to eat. We specialize in local ingredients. The nearby villagers catch local rice eels, loach, mackerel, sun spots, raw fish, etc., which will be sold to us. Arrive early or make reservations by phone in advance. Diners will have a taste.” According to the person in charge of a restaurant in Sanhe Town, some regular customers will call in advance to tell them to cook the soup in advance to save time for meals, except for raw fish four-flavor soup, loach and winter melon soup, and black bean tangerine peel fish soup. In addition to its popularity, the four-flavored soup cooked with sunlight spots is also sought after. The cooked soup is very sweet and tastes homely.
Sun spots that can be used as ornamental fish. Photo by Li Xiaochun
"The wild sun spots sold on the market vary in size, and those over 0.5 kg are relatively rare. However, their meat is tender and has no other small spines except the breastbone and spine. The fish is ridged or opened along the ridge. After the bone is deeply cut, you can choose steaming, steaming with garlic and ginger, or steaming with salted ginger. The taste is similar to wild raw fish." Mr. Huang, a citizen of Taishan, said that there are currently cultivated sun spots, but the body surface color is common. It is grayish black, and the color is not as bright as the wild ones. Large wild sun spots are hard to find, and they are very popular in the market.
Sun-spot herbal stew soup photo by Li Xiaochun
"There are a small number of wild sun spots with very bright colors on the body surface, even better than the ornamental fish'Brontosaurus' sold in some aquariums outside, especially those with orange-yellow, green-brown, blood-red spots, fins and body surfaces. The star points have good gloss, and the undamaged fins spread out very beautifully. They are pleasing to the eye when they are kept in a lighted fish tank. People often go to collect some beautiful sun spots for customers who are interested in raising wild fish. A single piece of small sun spots with a purchase price of less than 20 yuan can be easily bought by customers at a price several times the purchase price when placed in the aquarium fish tank." Mr. Wu, who runs the aquarium business in Taicheng, revealed The sun spots are rich in nutrients from the point of view of ingredients, and look good from the point of view of aquarium breeding. In recent years, they have been very popular among aquarists.
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