The four famous fish are not only herring, grass carp, silver carp and bighead carp. In some places, such as Shunde, Guangdong, there are also bighead carp (grass), bighead carp, silver carp and bighead carp. But no matter what kind of statement, it does not include carp and crucian carp, which have a special position in daily life.

We have introduced the life of carp before. Today, let's learn about carp, which is also very famous and common, and the same sense of existence is gradually decreasing.

Start with something delicious, crucian carp.

Carassius auratus, also known as Carassius auratus seed, Carassius auratus shell, Carassius auratus, Carassius auratus, etc. It is a member of Carassius auratus, a big family of CYPRINIDAE. So crucian carp is very similar to carp, but crucian carp is much smaller than carp. The easiest way to distinguish the two is to look at the beard. Crucian carp has no beard, while carp has a beard.

▲ crucian carp

▲ carp

Crucian carp is not big, and most of the fish caught are between 1 and 32. It takes about three years for wild crucian carp to grow from splash (small fish just hatched from fish eggs, also called fry and fish flower) to 3 taels.

Carassius auratus is one of the most common fish in China with tender meat and delicious taste.

Although the number is large and widely distributed, it is not big and does not grow fast. It seems that this is the reason why crucian carp can't rank among the four big fish.

Crucian carp is not a problem, but it is scientific. Engineering crucian carp is a kind of crucian carp cultivated artificially by bioengineering technology, also known as Xiangyun crucian carp. Its characteristic is that it can't reproduce by itself, so it concentrates on growing meat and grows fast, which is 3 ~ 5 times that of ordinary crucian carp. Compared with common crucian carp, the engineering crucian carp is also bigger, which can grow to 0.75 kg fry at the maximum in that year. But the meat is loose and the taste is not as good as that of wild crucian carp.

Engineering crucian carp caught by fishing friends usually escape from fish ponds.

Carp and crucian carp, which are also cultivated by bioengineering technology, have beards, which are completely like carp and much larger than crucian carp, but the lateral scales and spines are the same as crucian carp.

Second, whether the crucian carp soup is white or not is the key.

The first characteristic of crucian carp is its wide distribution and large quantity.

The reason is that it is adaptable, resistant to low temperature and hypoxia, so it can be seen all over the country except the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Crucian carp can be caught in all kinds of strange puddles and ponds.

1970 The crucian carp on the back of the Danish 50 kroner banknote is the work of Danish painter Ibrahimovic Andersen. Crucian carp is also common in Europe. Europeans don't eat river fish completely, but prefer sea fish.

Crucian carp is also good at laying eggs. Some people wonder that the caught crucian carp always has fish seeds in its belly, and there are endless seeds all year round. This is determined by the survival strategy of crucian carp. Crucian carp does not choose the living environment, and it is their own ability to reproduce. It takes only one year for crucian carp to participate in reproduction from birth. In some places, crucian carp can produce seeds only in 7 or 8 cm.

Crucian carp splash

There is a folk saying that "there are thousands of fish eggs, and where there is water, there is crucian carp". Of course, this is an exaggeration. Where there is water, there will be crucian carp, which is realized by the huge number of seeds produced. There are always various opportunities for communication between seemingly isolated natural water bodies, such as underground rivers, floods, tornadoes, birds that don't catch fish tightly, and people who love to release them ... so, crucian carp are everywhere.

Of course, crucian carp seeds cannot be preserved for thousands of years. "A thousand years of fish seeds, ten thousand years of grass seeds" is at least an exaggeration and has no scientific basis. In nature, only the eggs of a certain kind of giant fish in Africa can survive in a dry environment for one year.

Carassius auratus, called Carassius auratus in ancient times, likes clustering. Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica quoted Lu Dian, a poet in the Song Dynasty, as saying: "Carassius auratus walks together, so it is called Carassius auratus; It is also attached, so it is called. "

Idiom people use "crucian carp crossing the river" to describe more without chaos. The idiom "swimming fish" refers to the crucian carp in the dried-up wheel pattern, which is a metaphor for people who are in urgent need of help in trouble. This is the origin of the allusion of being thirsty for water. All these show how close and daily crucian carp is to our life.

Sushi is an ancient sushi, which uses white crucian carp from Lake Biwa.

Crucian carp is also a traditional food in Japan. Squid sushi originated in the 8th century. Squid is caught in Lake Biwa, that is, the local unique white crucian carp. In spring, the scales and internal organs are removed, coated with salt and stored. After two or three months, the blood in the fish was gradually discharged. Take the fish out in summer, spread the fish layer by layer, spread rice layer by layer, and put heavy objects on it to help fermentation. Storage time varies from several months to one or two years.

Due to long-term fermentation, the most striking feature of sushi is sour taste. Many people can't accept its taste, think it is a "dark dish", and some people like to eat it. Sushi is also called "cooked sushi" because it takes too long to cook.

The second characteristic of crucian carp is beauty.

An ornamental fish with the original style of crucian carp: grass goldfish

The vast majority of crucian carp are gray, black and vegetarian, but occasionally there are red and gold crucian carp in nature. After people's conscious collection and cultivation, it has evolved into an important symbol of China culture-goldfish. The earliest written record about goldfish was in the Jin Dynasty. China goldfish was introduced to Japan in16th century, and to Europe in17th and18th century.

The third characteristic of crucian carp is delicious.

Crucian carp is small and prickly. This kind of fish has always been unpopular with westerners, but it represents the homely delicacy of China fish.

Yuan Mei's Suiyuan Food List holds that the crucian carp with flat skin and white skin is the best, and its meat is easy to rot and debone, while the crucian carp with black spines is prickly and hard. Yuan Mei thinks that the best way to eat crucian carp is steaming.

Today, people who eat crucian carp are mainly fishermen, who are very familiar with different growth backgrounds and varieties of crucian carp. Many fishing friends also hold a view similar to Yuan Mei's. They think that crucian carp raised in mixed water tastes better and is generally lighter in color. Clear water crucian carp is black and bright, and its meat quality is older. However, all kinds of engineering crucian carp are not as delicious as wild crucian carp and develop rapidly, which generally means less exercise and loose meat quality. Fish that eat feed in fish ponds and puddles are not as delicious as fish that eat naturally.

Crucian carp has no taste of meat. Nowadays, it often undertakes the task of making soup.

▲ Jianyang mutton soup

In the process of cooking Jianyang mutton soup in Sichuan, crucian carp will be used in addition to Jianzhou big-eared sheep. The collision between fish and sheep gives people a perfect taste.

Crucian carp bean curd soup is the most common nutritious soup, which is considered as a nourishing product. Its characteristic is milky white soup, which is regarded by many people as the key to evaluate whether this dish is perfect or not. White seems to be the essence of fish, appetizing, and every drop cannot be wasted.

▲ Crucian carp tofu soup

The white color in soup is actually the optical effect of fat emulsification in water, which is essentially an emulsion, and the principle of coloring is actually similar to that of milk. Therefore, the traditional boiled crucian carp soup should be fried with lard, which is delicious and uses more fat to ensure the color effect of the soup. In addition, the fish's own fat into the soup is also related to temperature and calories. After the fish is fried, boil the water and continue to use the fire. It is easy to produce white soup.

The milky white soup is because of fat, so the main nutritional components of crucian carp soup are not so magical. Fat increases flavor and visual attraction, which can help many people who need more nutrition to eat more meals. However, they should not only drink soup, but also eat fish and tofu really rich in protein, otherwise they will only get water with fat and pepper aroma.

Crucian carp cooked with shredded radish is a traditional semi-soup dish, and it is also a delicious winter seasonal dish, that is, fry the fish first and then cook the soup.

It's hard for crucian carp to eat too many thorns, but it's good to be hot. Crispy crucian carp is a special cold dish and a traditional dish in the north and south.

▲ Crispy crucian carp

Using white sugar, vinegar, cooking wine, soy sauce and various seasonings, slowly stew crucian carp in casserole or pan, and collect juice until the bone spurs are crisp and rotten, which is a delicious food for all ages in Xian Yi. The effect is that the fish is intact, but it melts in the mouth (small series of deduction words), sweet and sour.

Boiled crucian carp is a more complicated stew in southern China.

▲ Boiled crucian carp

Scales and gills of crucian carp are removed, and the back of crucian carp is cut open to remove internal organs. Cut pork, ham, sea cucumber, magnolia slices, fish maw, mushrooms and Tricholoma into bean size, mix with soy sauce, cooking wine, onion ginger and lard, put into fish maw, and seal with bamboo stick. Fry the fish in the oil pan for six minutes, then add clear soup, soy sauce, sugar, cooking wine, etc. Slowly simmer into delicious red.

Frying fish with lard is an important operation to improve flavor. Stir-fried diced pork belly, tofu and ham are the soul mates of crucian carp in many dishes.

Yuan Mei's favorite steamed crucian carp is a little troublesome. There is a traditional dish, hibiscus crucian carp, which is steamed. The key point is to scald the crucian carp a little first, then soak it in cold water and gently tear off the skin. Then steamed with clean oil, ham, mushrooms and other side dishes, and finally served with steamed egg soup.

▲ Furong crucian carp

Third, have your views on crucian carp changed?

Crucian carp is cultivated in most areas of China, and Jiangsu, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces rank among the top three in domestic crucian carp breeding. Among them, crucian carp raised in Jiangsu and Hubei together account for one-third of domestic production. It can be said that the traditional land of fish and rice is still the main producing area and consumption place of crucian carp.

Hubei is the largest freshwater fish culture province in China, and Hubei people like to eat fish best. 80% of the fish produced here are also consumed locally.

According to the data of China Fishery Statistical Yearbook, the overall yield of crucian carp showed an increasing trend from 20 13 to 20 16, reaching a peak of 3.005 million tons in 20 16. Since 20 17, the freshwater aquaculture output of crucian carp in China has decreased slightly, and the price has also decreased slightly. In addition to the interference of fish diseases in aquaculture, people seem to have changed their minds about crucian carp.

Looking back, the food status of crucian carp has declined, which may be due to these reasons:

First, the famous crucian carp dishes are almost all traditional dishes. Due to the conditions of crucian carp, it is difficult to create new tricks, there is no new story to tell, and the price is low and the added value is not high. In addition, these traditional dishes are quite a test of cooking. It seems simple to fry fish, make soup and steam fish, but each item is quite difficult. Even a simple fish stew is a very time-consuming and labor-intensive thing.

Second, although the cultured crucian carp and hybrid crucian carp supplied by the market have a lot of meat, the taste has indeed dropped. People still like the taste of wild crucian carp and local crucian carp. Wild crucian carp is delicious, although the yield is not large, it is everywhere and will not be cherished.

The taste of crucian carp has become an integral part of fishing leisure lifestyle, not a fishing friend, and there is not so much subtle perception. Third, the food culture will change. The upgrading of consumption and the change of life rhythm are gradually reflected in people's eating habits. Now the ingredients have increased a lot. Whether it is tasting or eating meat, or adding nutrition to mothers, babies and the elderly, there are more choices. The status of crucian carp with less meat and more thorns has naturally declined in people's minds. It's not that crucian carp is not delicious, but that people have been picky.

Crucian carp with watercress. Appreciating the taste of fish is a matter of great regional and cultural differences. It is our dietary tradition to attach importance to seasoning and fully tap the flavor of ingredients.

There are more and more large pieces of cut fish in the market. Marine fish and exotic species with thick meat and less thorns are becoming more and more popular and are included in the recipes of more and more families. While eating out, the popularity of crucian carp dishes has also declined. As the pace of eating is getting faster and faster, no one wants to spend energy on eating two bites of crucian carp.

From the era of enjoying slowly picking bones and tasting fish, we have come to the era of "liking the new and hating the old".

Fried cod. Salmon, cod and other fish are becoming more and more popular because of their prickly meat, easy cooking and mellow taste.