A pot of big old yellow croaker, fresh through the East China Sea, hidden fishing family fireworks warmth

the sea breeze in eastern Zhejiang, wrapped in salty moisture, swept over the reefs and fishing boats on Taizhou's Dachen Island. In the evening, the fishing port gradually became lively. On the returning fishing boats, the most precious thing was the golden yellow yellow croaker with delicate meat. The fishermen's best and best practice was a bowl of original home-cooked yellow croaker. There are no complicated seasonings, no fancy cooking techniques, only fresh yellow croaker directly supplied by the East China Sea, with the simplest scallion and ginger cooking wine, slow burning and juice harvesting over a small fire, tender fish meat like tofu after being taken out of the pan, fresh and delicious soup, golden fish body with shiny luster, full of fresh food in the East China Sea and sincerity of fishermen, this Taizhou fishermen's highest signature hard dish is Haidao, it is also the seafood nostalgia engraved in the bones of every person in eastern Zhejiang.

I am Chen Yu 'an, 28 years old this year. I am a native of Taizhou's Dachen Island fishermen. I have been sharing the seafood and food of the East China Sea fishermen in howcooks for three years. I am calm and gentle. I went fishing with my father from an early age and learned how to cook fishermen's dishes at the hearth. I know the freshness and practice of the seafood in the East China Sea like the back of my hand. I don't like heavy taste seasoning. I firmly believe that top seafood only needs simple cooking. Keeping the original taste is the best way to eat it. The big yellow croaker cooked at home is the taste from snacks to big. It is a celebration dish for my father's return from fishing. It is the reunion flavor of the festival. It is also the eastern seafood that I care about most after leaving the island.

Dachen Island is located in the middle of the East China Sea. The water quality is clear and the bait is rich. It is a natural high-quality habitat for large yellow croaker. The large yellow croaker produced here has been a treasure in the East China Sea seafood since ancient times, and it was a royal tribute in ancient times. In Dachen Island, yellow croaker is the "rich fish" and "auspicious fish" of fishermen. Whenever family visitors, festival reunion and fishing boats return to Hong Kong, there must be a big yellow croaker on the dining table. This is a diet custom handed down from generation to generation by island people and is also the best feedback to the East China Sea. In my childhood memory, every time my father went out to sea with a full load, what I expected most was the home-cooked yellow croaker made by my mother. My mother would always choose the freshest and full-sized yellow croaker. After being cleaned, she would simply marinate it and cook it slowly in the pan. The whole process was properly controlled. No seasoning was added indiscriminately, just to keep the purest freshness of yellow croaker.

When I was a child, I always squatted by the hearth and watched my mother busy. After the fresh yellow croaker was cleaned, the fish body was scratched for convenience. A little salt and cooking wine were simply smeared and pickled for 10 minutes. After the hot pot was poured with oil and the ginger slices were fragrant, the yellow croaker was gently put into the pot, slowly fried with low fire until both sides were slightly yellow, added appropriate amount of clear water, and half of green onion was added, after the big fire boils, turn to a small fire and burn slowly for five or six minutes. Finally, turn to a large fire to collect juice slightly. Sprinkle a handful of chopped green onion before coming out of the pan. A plate of delicious home-cooked yellow croaker is ready. At that time, I didn't know what the top flavor was. I only felt that the fish was so tender that the chopsticks would break when touched, and it would melt in the mouth. There was no fishy smell. Only pure fish was fresh and sweet. The soup mixed with rice could even eat two large bowls. Even the fish bones wanted to be carefully worded. This was a homely delicacy that could not be compared with any seafood dinner.

As a national geographical indication product, Dachen yellow croaker is an iconic representative of seafood in the East China Sea, and the practice of home cooking is a classic eating method inherited by fishermen in eastern Zhejiang for a century, which best highlights the original taste of yellow croaker. Large yellow croaker has been known as the "crown of marine fish" since ancient times. The yellow croaker cultivated in Dachen Island simulates the growth environment of wild yellow croaker. Its meat is firm and tender, garlic clove-shaped, with moderate fat content and rich flavor, which is different from the wood and astringent taste of ordinary yellow croaker. The cooking method of home cooking is the wisdom summed up by the fishermen's ancestors according to the characteristics of seafood ingredients. It abandons the single heavy and steamed braised in soy sauce. The slow cooking with small fire allows the soup to penetrate into the fish slightly, which not only retains the freshness and tenderness of the fish, but also makes the taste more hierarchical. It is the most suitable method for home cooking and can best reflect the fireworks of the island. It is also a typical representative of Taizhou seafood food culture, it carries the daily life and diet feelings of fishermen.

I sincerely recommend you to try the authentic home-cooked big yellow croaker. First, it is the top seafood representative in the East China Sea. As a geographical indication treasure, the big yellow croaker is fresh and tender in meat and pure in flavor. It is a delicious feast that seafood lovers cannot miss. The home-cooked method can give full play to its delicious advantages. Second, the taste is excellent for all ages. The fish meat is tender like tofu and has no fine thorns, the soup is fresh and mellow, whether it is eating fish or bibimbap, it is especially delicious, and the elderly and children can eat it at ease. Third, cooking is healthy and unburdened, only scallion, ginger, cooking wine and salt are used for simple seasoning, no heavy oil, no extra additives, low fat and high protein, and delicious nutrition, which meets the needs of healthy diet. Fourth, with distinctive regional characteristics, Taizhou Dachen Island's unique fisherman's delicacy, what you eat is not only seafood, but also the local conditions and customs of the island. Fifth, it has a wide range of adaptation scenes. It is not only a hard dish for family dinners and festivals, but also a daily home-cooked delicacy. A plate is served on the table, and the atmosphere and flavor are both full.

The core essence of authentic home-cooked large yellow croaker lies in "fresh fish, slow fire and simple taste". Fresh large yellow croaker must be selected and killed now to ensure fresh and tender meat. Frozen yellow croaker can never make this kind of taste. When frying fish, use a small fire to prevent the big fire from breaking the skin and destroying the integrity of the fish. When cooking fish, add too much water. After the big fire is turned slowly, let the fish slowly absorb the soup flavor, finally, the juice should not be too dry. It is most delicious to keep a little soup and mix rice. My mother often said that good seafood does not need complicated methods. The fresher the ingredients, the simpler they should be treated. This is the initial intention of fishermen to make seafood, and it is also the key to the delicious taste of big yellow croaker.

Now I have left Dachen Island to live outside. I have eaten many precious yellow croaker dishes in hotels. Either the seasoning is too heavy to cover up the umami taste, or the meat is not fresh and firewood is not fresh. I have never been able to eat the fresh alcohol made by my mother. Every time I return to the island, my father always prepares the fresh big yellow croaker in advance. My mother still uses the most traditional home cooking method. At the moment when I serve it on the table, the familiar delicious flavor comes to my face, and all the tiredness in a foreign land is healed. I am sharing this family's cooking of large yellow croaker howcooks, just to share the purest flavor of the East China Sea and the most simple cooking concept of fishermen with more friends who love seafood, so as to let everyone know that the top seafood delicacies are always hidden in the simplest household practices.

This Taoist cooking of large yellow croaker is not only a dish, it is a gift from the East China Sea, the persistence of fishermen, the warmth of family reunion, and the homesickness of island wanderers. If you also prefer the original seafood, you must try the authentic home-cooked yellow croaker. If you have the chance to come to Taizhou Dachen Island, you must go to the fisherman's shop near the fishing port, order a freshly caught home-cooked yellow croaker, blow the sea breeze of the East China Sea, and taste the taste of this fresh fisherman in the East China Sea. What is your favorite seafood home-cooked dish? Have you ever tasted the authentic East China Sea yellow croaker? Please leave a message in the comment area and come to me howcooks to unlock more stories about the seafood home-cooked practices and umami flavors of the East China Sea fishermen.