CATDOLL : CATDOLL: How to Eat Seafood in Sanya How to Eat Seafood in Sanya

Eating seafood in Sanya is a must for many tourists, because Sanya is close to the sea, the seafood here is very fresh, large and delicious, it is really worth a try, and eating seafood in Sanya is also a local feature, you have to try it, otherwise your trip would be in vain. But everyone knows that seafood is a luxury among delicacies, and if you are not careful, there will be a risk of being ripped off, so everyone must choose carefully.

First Seafood Market

Sanya No. 1 Seafood Market is one of the oldest, most popular, most famous, most diverse and cheapest seafood markets in Sanya. It is located in downtown Sanya, close to Hai Tian Sheng Yan Port and International Shopping Center. It is 8 kilometers away from the high-speed rail station, 30 minutes by taxi and 45 minutes by bus; 16 kilometers away from Phoenix Airport, 40 minutes by taxi and 70 minutes by bus. It takes 3 minutes to walk from here to Sanya River, and 15 minutes to walk to Sanya Bay. It takes 10 minutes to take a taxi to Luhuitou, 20 minutes to Coconut Dream Corridor, and 18 minutes to Qianguqing. It is 4 kilometers away from Dadonghai and 25 kilometers away from Yalong Bay. Almost all the famous restaurants in Sanya are within the 3-kilometer business circle of the No. 1 Market. Therefore, the No. 1 Market is almost a must-see point for Sanya travel. So we set the first choice for buying seafood here, and share practical tips for buying seafood with you here.

The main entrance of the First Market is less crowded during the day.

Transportation

Back to the First Market, no matter where you are, three modes of transportation are recommended.

1. Public transportation: Use the navigation software on your mobile phone to navigate to the "First Market", select the public transportation mode of travel, and then take the bus to arrive according to the navigation information.

Advantages: Cheap, you can see the streets and alleys of Sanya.

Disadvantages: It takes a long time and you need to change trains in some places.

2. Didi: Use WeChat or Didi on your phone to hail a taxi, just enter the First Market. PS: Try not to take a taxi, some taxi drivers will take you to restaurants that offer kickbacks, but Didi drivers won’t.

Advantages: Convenient.

Disadvantages: Expensive.

3. Rent a car/drive: Just follow the traffic rules and drive carefully according to the navigation. It is recommended to navigate directly to the "International Shopping Center", where there are underground parking spaces, 300 meters away from the First Market.

Advantages: Freedom.

Disadvantages: Need to go to the parking lot to park.

Attached below is a navigation map of the First Market area.

This is a navigation map of the area around the First Market, with information on public transportation, parking, and taxis.

Seafood Assortment

The market has been selected, but we need to understand seafood before buying it. In order to help everyone better understand seafood, we first classify seafood to help everyone remember it easily.

First up are the four main types of seafood: fish, shrimp, crab, and lobster.

Then there are shellfish that are suitable for steaming and snails that are suitable for blanching or stir-frying.

Finally, there are boneless and other categories. There are 8 categories in total, and I will introduce them one by one below.

When introducing seafood, I will write down the approximate price of the past month for reference. Because typhoon weather will affect the price of seafood the next day, the price occasionally fluctuates, but the difference is not big. When the price changes overall in two months, I will come back and revise it, so you can save this guide or keep an eye on it.

The dry goods area is on the right side of the entrance, the fruit area is at the front door, and the seafood area is to the right.

After entering the market, use the navigation map to determine the location of the fair scale so that you can go to the fair scale to reweigh when necessary.

This is a simple navigation map of the interior of the First Market, standardizing the location of the doors and the location of the fair scales.

NO.1-Lobster

There are three main types of lobsters in the First Market: Boston lobster (Australian lobster), green lobster, and flower lobster. The best-selling one is Boston lobster, which can be bought for 100 yuan for about 1 jin. It is suitable for main dishes and can be steamed or stir-fried. Green lobsters are generally smaller in size, more than half a jin. However, they have less shell and more meat, and are more expensive than lobsters. They are suitable for steaming. Flower lobsters are generally more than 2 jin in size and are more expensive, suitable for those who do not consider price factors.

If you want to eat a bigger lobster, it is recommended to buy a two or three pound lobster, which costs only about 300 yuan.

You can also buy a lobster weighing about 1 kilogram. The price of lobsters is relatively low recently, and you can get one for 90 yuan.

You can also buy a small 8-liang dragon and a half-jin green dragon, and the total price of the two is only about 150 yuan.

Lobsters weighing less than 1 kilogram are sold individually. After negotiating the price, you can pick a lively and slightly larger lobster.

The difference between a dragon and a blue dragon mainly lies in whether they have large claws.

Key points: The key to choosing a lobster is to see if it is alive or dead. The way to judge is to see if it moves. If it is less active, the meat quality will be worse. The second way to judge is to look at the tail to see if there is more meat. If there is more shell, there is less meat, and if there is less shell, there is more meat.

PS: Some merchants in the market call lobster Australian lobster, which is just a marketing trick. Don't pay attention to it. You just need to know that you are buying lobster. Otherwise, when you return to the mainland and tell your friends that the Australian lobster in Sanya costs 100 yuan each, you will be considered bragging, because Australian lobster is very cheap.

Both lobsters weigh about one pound, but one has a large and deep shell, so there is less meat, while the other is the opposite.

NO.2-Shrimp

The best-selling shrimp is the mud shrimp, also known as sea shrimp.

Simply put, it is the kind of shrimp that everyone eats in their hometown or everywhere. This kind of shrimp is farmed in a fenced area by the sea, so it is called Jiwei shrimp. But don't mistakenly think that farming is bad, because as long as it is not wild, it is farmed. The chicken, duck and goose meat we eat every day are also farmed.

Prawns are suitable for blanching or stir-frying with pepper and salt. They are affordable, usually around 30 yuan per pound.

This is the common shrimp. The black parts on its head are called blackheads. In fact, they are the undigested feed fed during breeding.

Then there are the more expensive tiger prawns and bamboo prawns. Compared with the mud shrimp, they are larger and more elastic. The two types of shrimp are actually the same species, but one is farmed and the other is wild. The price of farmed shrimp is generally around 60 yuan, and the price of wild shrimp is around 120 yuan.

Tiger shrimp is also called grass shrimp, grass shrimp. It has two sharp corners on its head and is black in color. It is farmed.

The main way to distinguish them is by color. Farmed ones are black, while wild ones are colorful. They can be blanched, stir-fried, or seasoned with pepper and salt. Larger ones can also be steamed with garlic paste.

Bamboo shrimp is also called flower shrimp. It is similar in shape to the tiger shrimp, but its color is colorful. It is a wild shrimp.

Tiger prawns are also called giant prawns. They are very large, have big eyes, and have sharp heads that can easily hurt your hands.

There is also a kind of tiger shrimp, also known as giant prawns. They are very large, about 200 yuan per pound, and are suitable for steaming with garlic paste.

Key points: The first thing to look for when choosing shrimps is whether they are alive or dead, because there are dozens of shrimps in a pound, and it is impossible to pick them one by one. So what you need to do is to stir them to see if there are any shrimps alive and kicking.

PS: When weighing shrimps, it is easy for a lot of seawater to accumulate in them. Therefore, when weighing shrimps, be sure to make a hole in the bottom of the bag and filter it for a while.

The size of a tiger prawn compared to a finger.

NO.3-Crab

For crabs, the Hele crab, one of the four famous dishes of Hainan, is recommended. Hele crabs are mainly produced in Hele Town, Wanning City. Although they are also produced in Guangdong, Fujian and other places, they are much less fat and tasteful than the Hele crabs produced in Xiaohai area on the east coast of Hele Town.

There are many ways to cook Hele crab. I would like to recommend two more practical methods.

One way is to buy small Hele crabs, which weigh 20-300 grams each and are full of roe. The price is 20 yuan each. Buy three or four and stir-fry them.

Another option is to buy Yamato crabs, which weigh about 70 to 80 taels each and cost about 80 yuan per pound. Buy female crabs with half roe. They can be stir-fried, steamed, or made into a crab roe vermicelli stew.

The reason to eat Hele crab is, on the one hand, because of its fame as one of Hainan’s four famous dishes, and on the other hand, because of its rich roe.

Small Hele crab, about four fingers wide.

In addition to the Hele crab, you can also consider the red flower crab and orchid crab. The red flower crab has tender meat, while the orchid crab has sweet meat.

Orchid crab, blue pattern.

Red flower crab, red patterns.

The big ones are suitable for steaming, and the small ones are suitable for stir-frying. The most important thing to do when buying flower crabs is to distinguish between water crabs and meat crabs. As you can imagine, water crabs have more water, and meat crabs have more meat. The trick to distinguish is to tell the merchant directly that I want meat crabs. After the merchant helps you choose meat crabs, ask the merchant if you can pinch them. If he doesn't want you to pinch them, it means he is fooling you. Because the shell of water crabs will break if you pinch them, and the crabs will die easily. The shell of meat crabs is very hard and is not afraid of being pinched. If the merchant really gives you meat crabs, they are not afraid of you pinching them. (Pinch the belly)

Dungeness crab is big and meaty. If you want to eat bigger crabs, you can consider Dungeness crab. This kind of crab usually weighs two or three pounds and can be stir-fried or steamed.

PS: Generally speaking, if you can buy female crabs, don’t buy male crabs. Female crabs are better. Below I will provide you with how to distinguish male crabs from female crabs.

The difference between male and female crabs is the shape of their bellies, so all crabs are universal.

NO.4-Fish

Grouper is the best choice.

Currently, the price of grouper is very cheap, 35 yuan per catty, and the meat is tender and meaty, with almost no small bones except for one main bone.

Therefore, it is recommended to buy a grouper (1 pound is best) to steam or braise.

Grouper is a better choice. You can also consider turbot or golden croaker, both of which are affordable sea fish. Turbot is 40 yuan per catty, and golden croaker is 25 yuan per catty. Turbot can only be steamed, while golden croaker can be steamed or braised.

Turbot is moss-colored and thin. If you want to eat better fish, you can consider bluefin croaker, or red grouper or blue grouper. However, these fish, which cost more than 100 yuan per pound, can only be steamed, not braised, otherwise it would be a waste of food.

There are two types of grouper: blue grouper and red grouper, and the red grouper is more expensive.

NO.5-Snails

Both clams and conchs are affordable, less than 10 yuan.

You can eat clams everywhere and they are relatively cheap.

Conch shells are also very cheap and are great for winter melon and conch soup.

Mango snail has beautiful patterns, a thin shell and full meat. I recommend mango snail here. Mango snail is a snail unique to Hainan and is a Hainan specialty. In addition, the shell of mango snail is very beautiful with beautiful patterns. Although it is not big, it has full meat. Small mango snail is about 20 yuan per pound. Large mango snail is out of stock recently.

Sandbag snails are large in size and have large meat. In addition, you can also buy sandbag snails for stir-frying and chicken leg snails for blanching. Both types of snails are large in size and cost around 25 yuan. Flower snails are also a good choice. The meat of flower snails is harder and chewier, and costs around 60 yuan. They can be stir-fried or blanched.

The conches can be stir-fried or blanched.

No. 6- Shellfish

Scallops are very cheap, eight or nine per pound, steamed with vermicelli and garlic.

Scallops are the most cost-effective shellfish, 10 yuan per pound, with eight or nine scallops in a pound, and can be steamed with garlic and vermicelli.

Oysters usually cost 10 yuan for 4 pieces, and can be steamed with garlic.

12-head abalone means 12 pieces per pound, nearly three fingers wide, and costs 5 yuan each.

Abalones come in different sizes. They range from 18 heads, 15 heads, 12 heads, 10 heads, and 6 heads. The word "head" means the number of heads in a pound. So 6 heads are the largest, and 18 heads are the smallest. The most common abalone is 12 heads, which costs 5 yuan each.

6-head abalone means 6 pieces per pound. 4 fingers wide, large.

Scallops are a type of shellfish that has a lot of meat, and they cost 15 yuan for two.

You can steam it with vermicelli and garlic paste. One steamed scallop can be divided into two portions and shared by two people.

The round shells are very white and are also suitable for steaming with garlic vermicelli. The small ones cost 1 yuan each.

PS: Scallops are very cheap shellfish, but don’t buy too many because the processing fee is 3 yuan per scallop, so just buy one pound that is enough for you to eat.

If you want to save money and buy three or four kilograms, it only costs 30 yuan, but the processing fee will be 100 yuan, which is very embarrassing.

Scallops have a lot of meat, so one can be divided into two pieces and steamed with garlic vermicelli.

NO.7-Boneless

There are two main types of boneless seafood in the First Market, squid and octopus.

It is relatively easy to buy octopus, just buy one that is alive and moving.

Squid, on the other hand, requires some finesse, mainly observing its color.

The ones with white color are fresh, while the ones with dark red or dark color are not fresh.

The cooking methods include blanching, salt and pepper, and stir-frying.

This is a relatively fresh squid, and it is whiter.

This is very stale abalone, dark red in color.

Looking at the row, the second one is the freshest and the whitest.

NO.8-Other categories

In addition to the seven categories above, there are some common seafood that we have classified into other categories.

First are the small clams and king clams, because king clams have a lot of meat and are not expensive, at around 35 yuan.

Therefore, it is recommended to buy king clams, which are suitable for stir-frying. The way to identify the vitality of king clams is to pour water on them or touch the tender meat on the top of them with your hand.

The more you move, the more energetic it is; otherwise, it is not fresh.

Bamboo razor clam, also known as the king of clams.

Then there are sea urchins, which are usually 15 yuan for two. The sea urchins in the north have more meat and can be made into sashimi. But the sea urchins in the south have very thin meat walls due to different water quality.

Therefore, it is not possible to make sashimi, so the only way to cook it is to steam sea urchin with egg. When choosing sea urchin, choose the ones on the right with many long spines. The ones on the left with all the spines removed are not fresh.

The sea urchin on the left has all its spines removed, so it is not fresh. The one on the right is fresh.

Geoducks are divided into meat clams and water clams. As can be seen from the picture below, the meat clams are very white and tender, like a baby's skin. Water clams are the opposite, more like the greasy skin of a middle-aged man. More importantly, three-quarters of the water clams are water, so there is very little meat.

So water clams cost 90 yuan each, while meat clams cost three or four hundred yuan each.

It is recommended to buy clams as sashimi if you like sashimi.

If you buy clams, you can stir-fry them or make sashimi, and their internal organs can be used to make porridge.

PS: If you buy geoduck clams and choose to stir-fry them, you will not believe your eyes after stir-frying. The geoduck was so big when you bought it, but it turned out to be so small after stir-frying. This is because the geoduck has more water and less meat.

Seafood purchasing process guide

We have introduced the common varieties of seafood one by one. Next, let’s take a look at a set of organized seafood purchasing processes.

1. You need to be familiar with the seafood market. The First Market has a total of 5 doors. There are dry goods area and fruit area at the entrance. More importantly, there are fair scales in the market. Therefore, merchants in the market dare not tamper with the electronic scales, but they may tamper with other places.

2. Before entering the market, you should think about what seafood you want to buy. After entering the market, you can visit several stores to find the seafood you like and compare the prices. The prices I give are just for reference. The prices you compare are the real prices. Generally, there is no need to bargain for seafood below 50 yuan, because the profit is thin and almost every store has the same price. For seafood between 50 yuan and 100 yuan, you can generally bargain for 5-10 yuan. For seafood above 100 yuan, you must compare the prices and then bargain for 10-20 yuan. If you don't compare the prices, it will be meaningless to give a 20 yuan discount if the merchant is calling for a high price.

3. After you pick a store that you think is good, ask for the specific price. Then tell them clearly that you want all the fish alive, and you have to choose them one by one. If you are given dead ones, you will come back to exchange them if you find them. If you are serious enough, they will not want to rip you off, because it will be more difficult. Therefore, you must not act like it is okay just because you don’t know much, which is equivalent to telling the merchant to rip you off.

4. After negotiating the price with the merchant, make sure that the weight, variety and vitality are all right. When weighing, tell him that you know there is a fair scale in the market and you will go to the fair scale to weigh again, so please weigh more accurately and remember to peel and set to zero. When weighing, try to ask for a naked scale without a bag. In some cases where you must use a belt, such as shrimp. You should use a dry bag without water and make a hole under the bag to leak water. You need to watch carefully throughout the process. If you are serious, others will be afraid of you and dare not change seafood. PS: Make sure that the electronic scale is peeled and zeroed. You must refuse the seafood seller to help you kill the seafood. His purpose is to give you a dead seafood and make you think it is killed. You must buy live seafood and kill it at the processing shop.

5. Don’t trust touts, because any discount they mention may be a scam, at least possibly.

Next, I will introduce to you several common routines.

The tricks of some seafood merchants

The merchants are very skillful and fast. They will actively help you choose the animals, which are usually dead, lack vitality, or have broken legs or limbs.

Scale routine

The scales used by merchants in the market are all good and are supervised by the market. However, if they weigh you without peeling or zeroing the scale when you are not paying attention, it is very likely that 2 jin will become 2.5 jin. Not only the scales, but also the baskets used by some merchants are not easy to filter water, which will also increase the weight.

Water bag routine

Some merchants will soak some already thick bags in water in advance, so that the bags are covered with water, and then weigh them for you, and the bags will weigh only two or three taels. Therefore, you need to use dry bags with holes to leak water.

The trick of soliciting customers by handing out cards

1. There will be some people inside and outside the market who will ask you if you need them to buy seafood, or will ask you if you need the seafood to be processed after seeing you buy it. Generally, they will follow you all the time and brainwash you by coaxing you or giving you discounts. This behavior is called soliciting customers.

2. Generally speaking, after these people bring customers to a seafood restaurant, they can get 50% of the customers' processing fees.

3. They will send you a card saying you can get 50% or 60% discount, but if you look closely at the card, you will find many tricks, for example: steamed oysters 3 Yuan/each (clear). The clear means 3 Yuan for steaming without any seasoning, and adding minced garlic will cost another 2 Yuan, which is a hidden charge.

4. In order to ensure that they still have profits after paying the commission to the customers, some shops that solicit customers will inflate the fees to three or four hundred yuan per person, or secretly replace the seafood with dead ones.

5. The situations mentioned above often occur and can be found on the Internet, but it does not mean that every shop that solicits customers will have such behavior, because some shops are run by husband and wife, the husband cooks in the shop and the wife solicits customers in the market, which is also conscientious management. Because of less expenses, the prices will be cheaper, but because it is a self-employed business, the taste and hygiene of the dishes are more difficult to guarantee.

6. The most important thing when eating seafood is to eat live, delicious and hygienic seafood. Therefore, try to choose regular stores. It is not recommended to lose the delicious seafood experience for the sake of saving money.

Seafood Processing

So far, the classification of seafood varieties, identification of seafood and prevention of routines have been basically explained, and friends are reminded not to trust touts, otherwise they will regret it. If you pay attention to the news, you will often see news about tourists being deceived and ripped off by touts.

The owner of a seafood restaurant told me that the problem of soliciting and overcharging customers is still rampant because of profit issues.

For the pimps, they can only earn 3,000 yuan a month by finding a job, but it is different if they pimp on the street. They can get 50% of the processing fee for each table they pick up. Especially during the peak tourist season, some of them can earn one or two thousand yuan a day.

For tourists, since they don’t know much about seafood, they just follow the touts because they think they know more about it. After being cheated, they think it’s better to have less trouble than more and they will be going home in two days, so they just let it go.

For the government, there is no written law prohibiting solicitation. Only when the tourist police obtain multiple sets of evidence to prove that they have committed consumer fraud can they arrest and detain them for 15 days. However, it is not easy to obtain evidence, so the government has not had an effective solution. Later, the government took the lead in establishing a seafood association and asked the urban management to catch the soliciting girls, but after catching them, the urban management only had the power to require them to stand for 1 hour as a punishment. This is bound to be ineffective compared to the huge kickbacks.

So, I am here to introduce seafood to you and explain the tricks to avoid being cheated, and I also hope that this will help my friends avoid being deceived.

Therefore, it is recommended that you try to go to stores with good reputation, otherwise the previous process of buying seafood will be in vain.

Here, I would also like to recommend one.

Bu Zai Ke Seafood

In fact, I know a lot of good seafood restaurants, and I have been to more than one of them.

But I only recommend one here.

There are several reasons:

First of all, the name of this store is Bu Zai Ke. The owner chose this name based on the homonym of Bu Zai Ke, which means "don't kill a guest". Therefore, it fits this article very well.

The name is good, the slogan is ambitious, and the business is also great. Secondly, although many restaurants have clearly marked prices and do not overcharge customers, this restaurant is the only one that directly broadcasts the back kitchen, with a bright kitchen and stove, which I think is very important. Such a kitchen will make you feel more at ease, without worrying that the seafood you bought with great effort will be replaced.

The entire kitchen operation process is displayed right at the door, I am impressed.

Finally, this store is really good. There are many marathon medals on the wall. I like running marathons, so I can chat with the boss. These medals are all won by their team. The founder himself has run 9 marathons. The service in the store is also great. You can see from the little red flowers on the wall that they attach great importance to their sincerity and enthusiasm, and to customer satisfaction.

They are all marathon medals. I really admire them.

Then, when it comes to the products, although they are not particularly amazing, each dish is still well processed. The stir-fried lobster is made by a Sichuan chef, and the steamed grouper is made by a Guangdong chef, both of which are remarkable.

Finally, the most important thing is that this store is very close to the market, just 100 meters away. There is a Coconut Wind Alley next to the market, and the store is at No. 55 Coconut Wind Alley, which is only 2 minutes away.

The Sichuan-style salt and pepper shrimp may not look spicy, but the meat inside is very flavorful.

Cantonese-style steamed grouper, give as much as you can, and do good things to the end, because many friends who have been to the First Market will generally go to Yalong Bay for a few days.

So, they also have a branch in Yalong Bay, and I recommend it here. I have also been to the Yalong Bay branch twice. It is located in the Yalong Bay Central Square, which is a square by the sea with beautiful scenery.

Eat seafood outdoors, with the sky and the sea within reach. If some friends find it troublesome, they can also order their takeaway directly on Meituan Takeaway, which is very convenient. Just search for "Bu Zai Ke" on Meituan Takeaway, and they should be able to deliver to the whole Sanya, which is very powerful.