CATDOLL : CATDOLL: When is the best time to eat sea bass?

Winter is the best season to eat sea bass. The mature sea bass at this time is particularly plump, tender, fragrant, and has no fishy smell. The nutrients accumulated in the fish are also the richest. It is best to steam, braise or stew it. It is definitely a good time to eat fish.

Tips for choosing fish: Top-quality sea bass should have a greenish body and shiny, translucent scales. It is best to have bright red gills, and the skin and scales should not be falling off to be fresh. The fish eyes should be clear and transparent without turbidity and without any signs of damage. Press the fish body with your finger, and if it is elastic, it is fresh. Do not buy sea bass with a red tail, as the fish body is damaged and cannot maintain its freshness.

Preservation method: Sea bass is generally preserved at low temperature. If you can't finish it at one time, you can remove the internal organs, clean it, wipe off the moisture, wrap it with plastic wrap, and store it in the refrigerator. If refrigerated, it needs to be eaten within 1 or 2 days. If frozen, it can be stored for a long time, but the taste is not as good as fresh.

"People who travel on the river love the beauty of perch. Look at the leaf boat on the bridge, appearing and disappearing in the wind and waves." -- Fan Zhongyan There are many legends about perch, and this poem by Fan Zhongyan has aroused people's yearning for perch. Fan Zhongyan, born in 989 AD and died in 1052 AD, was a native of Wuxian, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. He was a famous political reformer and writer in the Northern Song Dynasty. His famous saying in his prose "Yueyang Tower" "Be the first to worry about the world, and be happy after the world is happy" is still praised by people today. Zhang Yong, a poet of the Yuan Dynasty, also mentioned perch in the poem inscribed on the painting "Autumn Water Boating Picture": "From Xiaogu Mountain to Pengbi Gaolangji, the old trees are blowing in the wind and the yellow leaves are flying. Who moored the boat in the autumn scenery and caught a three-foot fat perch." Su Dongpo described the shape of perch in "Red Cliff Fu". He said that he was boating on the river under the moonlight, "he caught a fish with a big mouth and fine scales, which looked like the perch in Songjiang River." Su Dongpo praised the perch in his poem "Bringing Baijiu and Perch to Zhan Wenjun": "Green floating eggs in a bowl, locust bud cakes with red dots on an ice plate, fish with wormwood leaves, drunk and full, sleeping soundly, the real career, the taste of this life lies in the three spare times" Why perch often attracts the interest of poets has a lot to do with the environment in which it lives. It usually lives in forests and lakes with warm weather and lush aquatic plants. In May, when warblers are flying and grass is growing, perch are active. Especially at sunrise and sunset, the scenery is as quiet as a poem. Barefoot in a small boat, gently cast the hook, and suddenly there is a splash and a chain falls, and a fat big perch reveals its black spine on the water surface, which makes people feel infinite interest in an instant. Perch is a kind of fish that lives in the near sea, and sometimes swims to freshwater areas to find food. They often spawn in the estuary where salt and fresh water meet in early spring. Perch grows fast and is large in size. It is often caught as a delicacy by Shanghai fishermen in the Huangpu River area. Songjiang County in Shanghai is a famous historical city. The Songjiang perch here is big, plump, tender and delicious. The famous Songjiang perch in the Ming Dynasty, together with Taihu whitebait, Yellow River carp and Yangtze River shad, are one of the four famous fish in my country and are well-known all over the world. Songjiang Yexiuqiao Hotel was once famous for its four-gill perch. Now people who come to Shanghai for tourism can taste steamed perch, braised perch, stewed perch soup, perch soup, perch meatballs and other delicacies everywhere. This dish can be called a unique dish among marine fish dishes. The cheek meat and fish liver of Songjiang perch are more delicious. "The west wind blows on the four-gill perch, and the thunder pine is crispy and greasy." The four-gill perch described by the Southern Song poet Fan Chengda is the perch produced in Songjiang, a tributary of the Huangpu River. Although Songjiang perch is small and the production is not large, it is quite famous. This is mainly because the meat of this fish is fine, fat and tender, white as snow, without fine thorns, and tastes delicious. For more than a thousand years, many literati and poets have praised it. It is said that in the Western Jin Dynasty, there was a man named Zhang Han, who was originally from Songjiang, Jiangsu Province, and served as an official in Luoyang. In the autumn of that year, the west wind suddenly rose and a cold wave was approaching. He remembered that the four-gilled perch and water shield in his hometown were at their best, and he felt homesick. He finally excused himself and resigned from his official position to return home. This is the allusion of "Thinking of Water Shield and Perch" that has been passed down through the ages. Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty praised the perch from Songjiang after tasting it when he went to the south of the Yangtze River, saying: "Golden minced meat and jade sashimi, a delicacy from the southeast." It is said that Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty praised the perch soup when he passed by Songjiang when he went to the south of the Yangtze River. He issued an edict ordering the governor of Songjiang to pay tribute every year. Since then, the perch from Songjiang has become famous all over the world, as evidenced by a poem: "Ginger sprouts and purple vinegar roasted perch, the snow bowl is more than two feet long, there is still the spring air of peach blossoms, the flavor here is better than water shield and perch." During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, when the west wind blew, officials from the capital were sent to Songjiang to purchase perch. The four-gilled perch is famous all over the world, and there are many legends throughout the ages. For example, there is an interesting chapter in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" about "Zuo Ci teasing Cao Cao", which says that Cao Cao held a banquet and sighed that there was no "perch soup" on the banquet. Zuo Ci said, "It's not difficult. I can catch perch from the pond in front of the hall." Cao Cao heard it and said, "I already have perch in my pond. It's not surprising." Zuo Ci said, "I'm fishing for Songjiang four-gilled perch, which is different from perch in other places." So he cast the hook and caught more than 10 perch at random. He asked everyone to watch. As expected, the perch had four gills, and everyone was amazed. After cooking and serving, it was delicious. Four-gilled perch likes to settle in rivers and ports with clear water, fast currents and hard bottoms. Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty went to the south of the Yangtze River twice, and he went to Songjiang Prefecture to eat four-gilled perch. He gave it a very high evaluation and ordered perch to be offered every year. In fact, the so-called four-gilled perch still has two gills. But because this fish has a dent in front and behind the two gills, its shape and color are like gill holes, and there is an orange-red stripe on the gill cover, which looks very much like four exposed gill leaves. Therefore, in ancient times, people believed that Songjiang perch had four gills. "Xuyunfu" records: "All perch in the world have two gills, but Songjiang perch has four gills. Therefore, Songjiang perch is also called four-gill perch." In fact, Songjiang perch has only two gills like ordinary fish. Songjiang perch only lives for one year. In late winter and early spring, the big fish spawn in Haikou and then die. The young fish hatch and go upstream to the tributaries of Huangpu River at the turn of spring and summer, and grow up in autumn. In the golden autumn season, groups of four-gill perch swim to the Xiuye ​​Bridge in Songjiang. This is the golden season for catching perch. According to the "Songjiang Prefecture Chronicle", it originally grew in the Changqiao area west of the county. Due to the disrepair of the river channel and gradual siltation, the perch moved to the Xiuye ​​Bridge in the west. After the Xiuye ​​Bridge was demolished, the number of perch gradually decreased, and now it has moved to the northwest of the Maohe River. Songjiang perch has special habits. If it is placed in clear water, it will die in one to two days. If it is placed in rice husks, it can live for 6-7 days. There are two types of perch: big mouth and small mouth. There are many ways to fish for perch, including boat fishing, shore fishing, live fishing, dead fishing, fake fishing and real fishing. Live fishing refers to using live bait. The best live bait is a small frog. This fishing method requires a No. 6 hook and an eight-pound line. The hook is passed through the frog's lower lip. No lead weight is needed. After it is thrown into the water, the frog will dance with joy. All perch will be angry when they see it. They will swallow the hook angrily. When fishing for perch with earthworms, you must never use a lead weight. Because the earthworm sinks too fast, the perch will be alert and will not bite the hook. The perch is the fattest in May, with tender meat. It is the best season to eat perch!