Zhenjiang is located on the south bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, where the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal meets the Yangtze River. Here is rich in all kinds of seafood, the most famous of which are shad, swordfish and silver carp, which are called "Three Freshness of the Yangtze River".

The shad is flat and long, white as silver, and tender in meat. It is named after returning to the river from the coast from May to June every year. It is one of the rare freshwater fish, and is listed as the first of the four famous fish in China: shad, A (Chinese sturgeon), pomfret and yellow. The shad are mostly produced in Xijiang River, Qiantang River and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, among which Zhenjiang shad is the most tender and plump. There is a lot of fat under the scales of shad, so it is generally not necessary to scrape the scales when cooking, and only by steaming them can the real taste be maintained. The nutritional value of shad is extremely high, and it contains many nutrients such as protein, fat, iron, calcium, phosphorus and riboflavin.

Swordfish is long and thin, quite like a sharp knife, and its whole body is silvery white, glittering and translucent and lovely. The Yangtze River ports are distributed from March to April every year, so Zhenjiang area is called "swordfish in spring and shad in summer". The swordfish meat is tender, fat but not greasy and delicious. There are many cooking methods, such as "sweet and sour crispy swordfish", "white sauce double skin swordfish" and "steamed swordfish".

Catfish has a conical head, a long tail, a small mouth, a big belly, no scales, few thorns, tender meat and many vitamins.

Taihu sanbao

Taihu Lake is rich in aquatic resources, which provides rich food resources for Suzhou, which is located on the coast of Taihu Lake. The rich whitebait, mackerel and white shrimp are also known as the "three treasures of Taihu Lake" and are well-known at home and abroad.

Iced fish

Whitebait, commonly known as noodle fish, or noodle fish, is a few inches long and slightly round. According to legend, the king of Wu ate too much food and abandoned it in the water. It became a fish, which was also called a remnant fish in ancient times (the name of whitebait was because it swam in the lake, like a silver arrow). It can be seen that whitebait in Taihu Lake has a long history of development as a precious edible fish species in China.

There are four kinds of whitebait in Taihu Lake, namely whitebait, whitebait, whitebait and whitebait. The first two are larger and the last two are smaller. The whole fish is white and transparent, with soft bones and no scales, except for two eyes with black spots. The spawning period is concentrated from mid-May to mid-June every year, which is the peak season for fishing. The poem by Wang Shucheng, a poet in Ming Dynasty, "When the ice is exhausted by the stream, the whitebait runs, and the white jade floats, there is no need to explore the inner point" is a compliment to whitebait. In Song Dynasty, Zhang Xian's poem "After beginning of spring, whitebait is not as good as perch", and whitebait and perch are listed as treasures among fish.

Whitebait is rich in nutrition. According to the analysis, every100g of whitebait contains 8.2g of protein, 0.3g of fat,1.4g of carbohydrate, 258mg of calcium,102mg of phosphorus, 0.5mg of iron, 4 1 kcal of calories and vitamin B.

Fresh whitebait can be made into dried whitebait after being irradiated by sunlight, which looks like Hosta, and its color, fragrance and taste remain unchanged for a long time. The dried whitebait produced in Dangkou, Suzhou is less than two inches long, with flat body, soft flesh and white color, and is listed as the top grade. It is exported to Europe and America and enjoys a high reputation.

Whitebait is tender, white, without bone spurs and fishy smell, and can be used to cook various delicious dishes and fresh soups. The "whitebait ball" with fresh fish soup and the "whitebait stall yellow dish" with fresh fragrance are two traditional famous dishes made by whitebait in Taihu Lake and cooked by famous chefs. Dried whitebait should be soaked in water before cooking. If fried with eggs, it is tender and delicious, soft and boneless, and it is a famous dish in the south of the Yangtze River.

Miki

Plum carp, also known as lake carp, commonly known as hairy fish, is slightly flat and thin, with a sharp mouth and a big mouth. Its eyes are born at the front and upper ends of its head, its abdomen is slightly wider, its tail is narrow and narrow, its scales are thin and white, and its overall shape is narrow and long, like a bamboo leaf.

According to Zhang Hua's "Natural History" in Jin Dynasty, it is said that at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Gou Jian, the king of Yue, accumulated his strength and launched a decisive battle with Wu, hoping to avenge himself. At that time, Fu Cha, the king of Wu, had fun all day because of his beauty, and his life was extravagant, which ruined the wind of loyalty. Wu Jun didn't want to fight for him. The Vietnamese army won favorable fighter planes and won one victory after another. However, due to being blocked by the surface of Taihu Lake, the capital of Wu could not be conquered, and the war was deadlocked. Just as the Vietnamese army was about to run out of rations and wanted to retreat, suddenly around the Vietnamese warships, groups of small fish floated up-that is Mei Yan. The Vietnamese army got food, so its morale was greatly boosted, and it quickly invaded the capital of Wu (now Suzhou) and destroyed Wu. According to legend, the Mei Mei in Taihu Lake was changed by Fu Cha, the king of Wu, pouring the remaining meat and bones into Taihu Lake. Because it is longer than whitebait, fishermen in Taihu Lake are used to calling Meimei Brother Whitebait.

Mackerel lays eggs in March and April every year, and fish begin to lay eggs in June, and then enter the fishing season. Therefore, there is a folk proverb, "On July 7th, the plum blossoms are together", and the fishing period can last until the middle of February of the following year.

Japanese mackerel is tender, delicious and nutritious, and rich in protein, fat, carbohydrates and inorganic salts such as phosphorus, calcium and iron. In particular, tender bones and eggs contain a lot of calcium, which is about three times that of whitebait. They are tonics for human brain and bone marrow, and are especially suitable as healthy food for young people.

Fishermen in Taihu Lake usually use charcoal fire to slowly dry the freshly caught silver carp in time to make delicious dried silver carp without fishy smell, which is a famous specialty of Taihu Lake and regarded as a treasure on the table.

There are many cooking methods for mackerel (fresh) and its dried fish, which can be steamed or braised. If dried mackerel is cooked with pickles or tofu, it is a delicious dish for people in Taihu Lake area in the south of the Yangtze River.

White shrimp

White shrimp growing in the open waters of Taihu Lake belongs to freshwater shrimp. The body color is transparent, the head has whiskers, the chest has claws, the eyes are prominent, and the tail is *-shaped. According to "Taihu Preparation", "Taihu white shrimp is the best in the world, and its color is still white after cooking."

Most white shrimps in Taihu Lake live in shallow waters with abundant aquatic plants and calm waters, and their feeding habits are mainly plant fragments, organic residues and weak invertebrate plankton. From May to the middle and late July every year, it is the peak season for white shrimp to lay eggs. Young shrimps that lay eggs and hatch in early spring will grow into prawns in the middle and late June and mature to lay eggs at the end of August after two or three months and six or seven molts. There is no special flood season, usually the season of eating shrimp in June and July of the lunar calendar.

White shrimp in Taihu Lake is fresh, tender and delicious, with high nutritional value. According to scientific analysis, every100g of edible shrimp contains 20.6g of protein, 0.7g of inorganic salts such as fat, calcium, fish scales and iron, and vitamin A and other nutrients. Besides eating, it can also be used as medicine. Ye Juquan, a contemporary pharmacist, said in the book "Prescription for Eating Chinese Medicine": "Shrimp is sweet and warm in nature, which can nourish acne, lactation and strengthen yang. It is a strong drug for nourishing sperm and can detoxify after oral administration. "

The dishes made with shrimp are delicious. Famous dishes such as "Robbie Shrimp", "Fried Shrimp Cake" and "Three Shrimp Tofu" are all made by skilled chefs, and people are full of praise after eating them.