Chapter 29 Shad

In the late spring of the 17th year of the Republic of China, the Salt Audit Office held a sales meeting in Yangzhou. After the meeting, Hu Bijiang, the general manager of Central South Bank, said: "The shad flourishes in April, and its scales are as white as silver. Famous, if you want to be elegant, why not take it with you in a towel car, and steal the floating life for three days, stroll around Jinjiao, and taste the boat shad!" So the Zhenjiang Branch of the Central South Bank was in charge of boarding and lodging by boat and car. We, a group of more than ten men and women, arrived in Zhenjiang and boarded a small boat.The shad is mainly eaten fresh, but the shad will die when it is out of the water, and it will lose its taste in an instant. Although Zhenjiang is close at hand, the flavor has been greatly reduced after leaving the ship. At the foot of the mountain, when the fisherman catches the fish from the net, he cooks and eats it on the bow of the boat immediately, so that it will be moist and fresh, perfect and perfect.In the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi and Qianlong toured the south of the Yangtze River, and after tasting the shad from the boats, there were imperial poems all over the place to show their ministers!According to the records of Jiangning Prefecture: "The shad is the most beautiful fish. At the beginning of April, Guo Gong and the birds sing, and the catchers wait for it." We arrived at Jiaoshan in the beginning of April, and the new willows were cut and the willow flowers were strung together.According to an experienced fisherman, in the early years, Guo Gong’s birds sang, and within three days, a large group of shad appeared. In recent years, Guo Gong’s birds have become increasingly rare.The monks of Dinghui Temple in Jiaoshan said that those shad came to the mountain. Three days before the pilgrimage, there were thousands of small black insects flying on the river surface, and finally all floated on the water surface, allowing the shad to eat. , the locals call this kind of worm "shad grain". Only fish that have eaten shad grain will be fat and tender, and the fishermen have tried it repeatedly.Our boat was moored at the foot of Jiaoshan Mountain, the fish had eaten their fill, and before they could swim back, the cook steamed the food with charcoal fire at the bow of the boat. Sweet and plump, with a delicate flavor, it is quite different from the shad eaten in Yangzhen, Ninghu.Everyone has eaten the boat shad on the river this time. Although it is a lot of work, no one does not say it is worth it.

The essence of shad fish is all in the fat under the scales, so cooking shad fish is different from cooking other fish, wash it clean, don't remove the scales first, and when it's time to eat, first sip the fat on the scales, and then eat the fish.The shad knows that the scales are its treasure, and it takes special care of them. Once the scales are hung in the net, they may hurt the scales, so they will not move again.Lu Xiaobo, president of the Zhenjiang Chamber of Commerce who went to eat shad together, is the most concerned about eating shad. He said: "Shadha should only be steamed, fried in brown sauce, all scales and fat will be lost, and the fat will be gone. Fresh shad is caught in the net. Dig out the intestines and gallbladder, wipe off the blood with a cloth, crush it with pepper and amomum, add Huadiao, shredded green onion, and ginger rice, cover with a few pieces of 'Jiang's leg', do not use soy sauce or salt flower, and put it on the pottery When steamed in a pot, the fragrance will be released naturally on a plate, and it will be transparent and delicious.” The words of a good eater are of course based on experience.

Mr. Chen Hanguang introduced his younger brother, Shengyou, who knew the most stories about shad. After everyone was full of shad, he told a very interesting story about shad in the bow of the boat.He said: "There was a girl from Zhenjiang who married to Nanjing and worked in the kitchen for three days. When the spoon was served to her aunt, it was just in time for the shad to be on the market. When the new daughter-in-law entered the kitchen, the sisters-in-law and sisters-in-law wanted to see how she was doing, so they bought it specially. I picked up a shad, and tested the new daughter-in-law, who knows that the new daughter-in-law picked up the kitchen knife, without hesitation, scraped off all the scales of a shad, the sisters-in-law looked at her and thought she was a layman , I don’t talk about it, just wait for the dinner table to watch the jokes. Who knows that a plate of shad is served, although it has no scales, but it is more plump than the shad without scales. After the meal, I asked the new wife for advice. My family grew up by the river, and every year at the end of spring, a large group of shad fish swims here, and they naturally become masters of cooking shad fish. They think that the fish is not beautiful if it is not scaled, and the beauty of shad fish lies in the scales, so Scrape off the scales, string them together with a needle and thread, and hang them in the pot. When the fish is steamed, the water vapor will churn, and the scales and fat will gradually dissolve, completely dripping on the fish. There is no drop of fat left on the scales, which is more than that of shad with scales. It is delicious and saves the trouble of picking the scales, so my sister-in-law dare not underestimate this daughter-in-law who was born as a country girl."

In the early years of the Republic of China, the transportation was only boats and cars, but no planes, and the refrigeration equipment was not as perfect as it is now. No matter how many boats and cars were used, the shad eaten in Pingjin had no peculiar smell, but the flavor was completely lost.I remember that when Xu Shichang, a native of Bizhu Village, was the president, he had a natural ice-cooled banquet in Huairen Hall, and invited all the officials to eat shad.He has a personal servant who is full of rustic style. When people leave at night, he thinks that the residual cream is cold, but the doctor's swallow food is full of delicacies, so he can still eat it.Unexpectedly, after taking a bite of shad, I feel that the fish meat is bad and useless, and it is not as good as cooking fish sticks in my hometown!Later, the presidential palace has been passed as a joke.Nowadays, Jiangsu and Zhejiang restaurants in Taipei often take steamed shad as a call. Whether the shad that has been frozen for several days is fat and delicious, only God knows.