Chapter 38 Delicate Spring Bamboo Shoots Recalling Catfish

Two days ago, in the vegetable cabinet of the supermarket, I saw clean and tender spring bamboo shoots. I immediately remembered that in the mainland, wasn’t it the time to eat spring bamboo shoots and cook catfish?In the early spring of the south of the Yangtze River, in the Jianghuai area, spring is born, the water is heated and the fish is fat. The first fresh fish on the market is the puffer fish that the ancients called salmon, salamander, pure, and mackerel. Both Chinese and Japanese love to eat. The puffer fish is near the end of the market, and the saury is coming one after another.The scientific name of saury is crucian carp, also known as some fish. Su Dongpo was not only the best in poetry and calligraphy in the Song Dynasty, but also famous for his delicious food. Dongpo meat is his masterpiece.His poem "Hanlugang": "Melting in the clear harbor, the spring light shines, catkins fly when the asparagus is growing. Is there any scenery in the south of the Yangtze River? Peach blossoms and flowing water make fish fat." The fish mentioned in the poem are the saury we are talking about now. .

Every year after the Qingming Festival and before the Grain Rain, the catkins form clusters and the cloves begin to bloom, which is also the time when the saury goes to the market and the catfish is recommended for dinner.Catfish was originally called fin fish, and people are used to calling it catfish. Over time, some people call it fin fish, but they feel a little strange.Near the ports along the Yangtze River, there are traces of catfish, but the meat produced in the Jianghuai area is particularly famous for its tenderness and deliciousness. Because of their generous size, catfish weighs 20 to 30 kilograms per tail. If you use a net, it will often break free and abscond through the net. Therefore, you must use a rolling hook to catch catfish.The meat of catfish is thick and delicate, and the bones are soft and fatty, so it is easy to rot. Therefore, once the fish is out of water, it must be stored in ice immediately.When transported to the market for sale, the price is higher than that of ordinary fresh fish, which is the reason.

Catfish is rarely steamed, let alone fried, and most of them are braised in brown sauce.The catfish is on the market, and the bamboo shoots are fat. The catfish has only fish bones and no spines. Cut the catfish with bones and meat into half-inch dice pieces, simmer in heavy oil, and serve in a pan. , Juicy thick, fragrant, full of fat and fat, plump but not greasy, can be regarded as a good product among fish suitable for soup and rice.Eating saury is afraid of being stabbed, and eating puffer fish is afraid of death. Only catfish can be eaten as much as you want. For the old gourmets, if you can eat a few meals of spring bamboo shoots and roast catfish during the catfish season, it will be a great joy in life.

In the 20th year of the Republic of China, the author served in Hangao, and my colleagues had a taste of watercress fish in Shu Garden in Wuchang. Liang Ran, so he is called Liang Dabeard) would rather eat Wuchang fish, and talk about Wuchang fish in a hype, but in fact it is nothing more than mediocre, so it is not surprising.In the same seat was Zhan Junzishou, a native of Macheng, Hubei, who is the director of the Huangshi Port Cement Factory. He said: "There is a famous seasonal dish in Huangshi Port called catfish, because the Yangtze River is vast and rough, and Huangshi Port is the narrowest place on the Yangtze River. In the first section, fish swarmed up, surged up waves, touched stones and spit out clouds, and the sound was terrifying. This is the season when catfish are in abundance. When you catch a big fish, please eat it here, and you will know Liang Xinghai What I said is true." Although I have eaten catfish many times, it is a pity that I have never seen the true appearance of catfish. Now I have both to eat and to see, so when I answered the phone, I immediately ordered to drive there.The Ganqing catfish has a short nose and beard, its mouth is born under the jaw, and its abdomen is blue and white. It is like a catfish.No matter how tough the fishing net is, when the fins pass by, it is like sharply cutting the silk, and it will be cut apart. From this, we know that the reason why the catfish must use the rolling hook is here.Since I ate catfish once in Huangshi Port, it proves that the area where catfish migrate is vast, and it is not limited to the corner of Huaihai.

In the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, the government moved south.For those who did not have time to join the army, everyone gathered in Shanghai to avoid the hustle and bustle temporarily.One day, Liu Yizheng, Liu Gonghe's uncle and nephew Xiuyu Chunjiu, invited them to eat catfish. Unexpectedly, Qing Daoist Li Baixie was also a guest.He has heard of Li Baixie's name for a long time, and he is very happy to be promoted. He not only eats large pieces of meat, but also picks up fish bones to suck. It is said: "Fish meat is sweet and fat, but the bone marrow of fish has the same jade liquid as nectar. That's much smarter than silver carp's brains and suet's warm and moist fat." Since I learned the lesson this time, whenever I eat catfish, I always chew and chew the fish bones and never give up lightly.

Family friends Pan Xijiu in Huizhou and Zhou Zhi'an in Jinling, because they have lived in Bangjiang for a long time, both have a special preference for catfish.In the spring of the tenth year of the Republic of China, Mr. Zhang Jizhi held a board of directors and supervisors of Dasheng Spinning Mill in Nantong. Pan Zhou invited me to Nantong to attend the meeting. Stay for two days, please eat Sister-in-law Tian's special dish of roasted catfish.Sister-in-law Tian is from Yilin, northern Jiangsu. She once served Shen Shou, the embroiderer, for many years. After Shen passed away in Nantong, Sister-in-law Tian still stayed in the Zhang family and worked in the small kitchen.Under the guidance of Mrs. Shen, Tian was quite good at spooning, steaming duck and roasting oatmeal, which was mellow and prosperous, especially cooking catfish.Tian Sisao always uses dried bamboo shoots instead of fresh bamboo shoots. The spring bamboo shoots are on the market every year, and the river prawns are plump. The crystal clear and moist shrimps are washed and dried in the shade. They are soaked in the best white soy sauce for many years, and then the new spring bamboo shoots are soaked in shrimp roe soy sauce. After three to five days, take it out and dry it in the sun, store it in a sealed container, and use it when the catfish is cooked.It not only helps freshness and taste, but also has a long-lasting color and fragrance, and the cooking is meticulous. This is the best catfish I have ever eaten.After feasting, every catfish season since then, I will never forget Tian Sisao's shad.According to Zhang Jilao: "After the completion of the Oumei Pavilion, I once invited Ouyang Yuqian and Mei Wanhua to eat crucian carp in the east of the pavilion. Liu Gonglu, a little braid left by the former Qing Dynasty, and Sie Gong knew that he was fond of catfish, so he once folded a letter to invite him. Unfortunately, he was sick and failed to keep the promise. Afterwards, he blamed himself for being poor, and wrote an emotional "Ode to Fin Fish", which was published in the "Nanjin" magazine published in Tianjin. Yuan Hanyun saw it and said that he Greedy faces, greedy and ugly attitudes are on the paper. The two actually started a pen-and-ink lawsuit over the catfish. Two strong pens, you come and go, it is really lively. Zhang Danfu and Zheng Yimei in the newspaper industry were involved in the pen war after persuading them Whirlpool, in the end, after Chen Xiaoshi knew about it, everyone ate catfish to resolve it, and the lawsuit was considered closed." This funny story about catfish was not told by Mr. Sin himself, and I am afraid that not many outsiders know about this funny story!This shows how tempting catfish is to greedy people.