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| ARTICLE INFORMATION: Author: Howard Norfolk Title: A Tour of China in Winter, Part 5: Fish Seen in Chinese Restaurants Summary: Fish, particularly freshwater ones, are popular food items in China. Large restaurants have tanks full of live fish. Some strange creatures are eaten in China too! Contact for editing purposes: email: comments@aquarticles.com Date first published: March 2005 Publication: Original to Aquarticles Reprinted from Aquarticles: |
ARTICLE USE: Internet publication (club or non-profit web site): 1. Credit author, original publication, and Aquarticles. 2. Link to http://www.aquarticles.com and original website if applicable. 3. Advise Aquarticles Printed publication: Mail one printed copy to: Jim Norfolk 4131 Bonavista Crescent Burlington, Ontario L7M 4 J3 And one copy to: Aquarticles.com #205 - 5525 West Boulevard Vancouver, British Columbia V6M 3W6 Canada Note: Photos have been re-sized for fast loading. Higher resolution photos can be supplied if required. |
By Howard Norfolk During my tour of China I wanted to see the fish and aquarium scene, so I visited public aquariums and aquarium shops wherever I went. But there was another place where I saw live fish - in restaurants! Many high end restaurants in China have a whole bank of aquariums where live fish can be chosen by customers to be cooked for their meals. Most of the fish are freshwater fish, which are still popular food items in China. There are plenty of fishermen who make a living catching freshwater fish, and they are produced on fish farms as well. In Europe and North America freshwater fish are not so often used as food, with the exception of farmed trout, catfish (in southern U.S.) and carp (in eastern Europe). Freshwater fish used to be eaten more often, but the development of railways and refrigeration meant that the more abundant sea fish could be transported efficiently. One of my guides pointed out that Chinese people like their fish fresh, i.e. alive, before they are cooked. Freshwater fish are easier to keep alive, and seem to be more popular than sea fish even in a sea port such as Shanghai. Personally I found these fish bony and generally tasteless, but then quite honestly I found most Chinese food bland and similar in taste - the oils from the wok cooking permeated everything. If I couldn't have seen what bite-sized chunk I was eating it would sometimes have been hard to tell if I was eating meat or vegetable - let alone what kind of meat or veg.! I was always interested in the displays of live fish in restaurants, and here are some that I came across: Help wanted: My knowledge of the fish of China is limited. If anyone can help identify the unidentified fish shown below, or can add information or corrections, please email me at: comments@aquarticles.com Our hotel in Beijing:
Click on photos for enlargements, then go 'BACK' Diners could choose any of these fish to be cooked as part of their meal:
I made a note of some of the prices, which were marked on the tanks. All were priced per 500grams (a little over 1lb.) and the flounders were $US15.71, large crabs $9.42, perch $8.22, trout $7.00, grass carp and cichlids $3.38, small crabs $2.42. Another Beijing restaurant
A restaurant in Xi'an:
A street in Guilin:
Our hotel in Shanghai:
It is rather sad to think that all these beautiful fish and creatures will have been eaten by now. One more thing.... Warning: If you found the above pictures distressing, don't look at the following!
Are you feeling hungry yet? There is a saying in China that everything is edible "as long as its back points at the sky" - in other words that is non-human (although cannibalism has occurred, and there are rumours that aborted human fetuses are eaten for health reasons too). But in all fairness, our guide in Beijing said that he, as a modern sophisticate, has never eaten the foods pictured above. He and his family only eat our familiar common meats such as beef, pork, lamb and chicken. Life goes on:
Go to the next in this series: The whole Tour of China in Winter series: Or, back to:
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