190: Plum Fish

Little Squid, also known as Japanese flying Squid, or pen Squid, small Squid, inkfish, and cuttlefish, belongs to the class Cephalopoda, family Ommastrephidae.

It is small, with a mantle length of up to 15 centimeters.

Similar to Squid, but shorter and smaller, with a short, wide body. Its body is conical, shaped like a pen.

Some Dalian and Qingdao locals also call it "sea rabbit" because the Little Squid escapes very quickly.

It truly embodies the saying, "still as a maiden, swift as a fleeing rabbit."

When cooked, as its mantle stiffens from the heat, its shape becomes plump and round, resembling a rabbit's body, while its splayed tentacles look like upright rabbit ears.

Arranging them neatly on a plate, they look exactly like a group of rabbits. This is also why people call them "sea rabbits."

Little Squid spoils easily, so only in its place of origin can one taste the delicious fresh product.

What is available in markets in some inland areas are only frozen products or dried goods.

There are many ways to cook Little Squid, such as blanching, braising in oil, spicy stir-fry, scallion oil, and quick stir-fry.

The wholesale market price is relatively affordable, ranging from 30 to 50 yuan per jin.

Because the previous net of Grouper Fish had put Bai Dahai in a good mood, he decided to let everyone earn some extra money and cheer up when they encountered Little Squid.

After all, a good mood leads to better work.

So, everyone grabbed a scoop net and found a spot to start scooping up Little Squid. After all, this was a gift from the sea, specially permitted by the boat owner, and who could refuse to earn a little more money?

Bai Dahai and Yang Limin also followed behind everyone, scooping up quite a lot of Little Squid.

An hour later, everyone voluntarily stopped. Zheng Tie went to the kitchen and made a plate of blanched Little Squid.

Indeed, freshness is the best synonym for deliciousness.

This trip out to sea brought in thousands of yuan in extra income for free; who wouldn't be happy? Their enthusiasm for work grew even stronger.

When the Ship worker were woken by the broadcast again, it was already around 3 AM.

After taking turns washing their faces, everyone went to the deck to prepare to haul in the net.

As the winch slowly turned, the net was hoisted onto the deck by the crane.

This drew loud cheers from everyone.

Looking at the fullness of the net, it was probably about 2 tons. This amount, for the harvest, would normally only be considered an average catch.

So why were everyone cheering excitedly? Because they saw a golden-yellow color through the gaps in the net.

"Golden-yellow, could it be Large Yellow Croaker?"

"If it's that many Large Yellow Croaker, then we've struck it rich!"

A few people started discussing wildly.

"You're overthinking it, aren't you! How could there be that many Large Yellow Croaker!"

Bai Dahai, who was standing closest to the net, said with a smile.

He had already seen that it was Meitong Fish. However, whether there were Large Yellow Croaker inside was unknown.

As Bai Dahai pulled out the net rope, countless golden bars seemed to be left on the deck.

It was truly golden-yellow, almost dazzling under the lights.

"Ah! It's Meitong Fish!"

"I thought it was Large Yellow Croaker!"

A few people grumbled again, their words tinged with regret.

"Stop complaining, Meitong Fish is also good. Put the lively ones into the live fish hold, and quickly sort the others into three grades: under two liang, two to three liang, and over three liang."

Bai Dahai cursed with a smile.

Meitong Fish, also known as mantou fish, big-headed plum, or plum-headed fish, belongs to the order Perciformes, family Sciaenidae.

Meitong Fish is an inshore economic fish species. Its body is elongated and flattened, with a shallow arched back, a flat and rounded belly, and a slender caudal peduncle.

The dorsal and lateral sides of its body are grayish-yellow, the ventral side is golden-yellow, and all fins are pale yellow.

Meitong Fish has the effects of nourishing and strengthening, invigorating the spleen, and nourishing the stomach. It can be used for childhood enuresis, anemia, and indigestion.

Its flesh is tender and delicious, with a garlic-clove-like texture. It is generally used fresh and can be steamed or fried, offering fragrant meat and crispy bones, making it very tasty. It can also be processed into canned food.

It is one of China's small economic fish species.

Due to the decline of traditional economic fish resources and the reduction of predatory fish, Meitong Fish has had ample opportunity to reproduce and grow, and its resource volume is showing an upward trend.

The price of Meitong Fish varies depending on the season, origin, size, and freshness.

The price of live Meitong Fish is usually 40-80 yuan per jin, with those over two liang potentially exceeding 100 yuan per jin, and those over three liang reaching 200 yuan per jin.

The price of iced fresh Meitong Fish is basically only about half of that.

Basically, all seafood is more expensive the larger and fresher it is.

For fish caught by trawling, generally the ones on top are still quite lively. From the middle part downwards, due to longer periods of water deprivation or prolonged compression, their vitality is insufficient.

Everyone picked out some larger individuals from the top and put them into the live fish hold. The rest were sorted by grade and sent to the freezing hold.

Unfortunately, no Large Yellow Croaker was found among the pile of Meitong Fish.

While cleaning the deck, Chen Dong reported that the freezing hold was almost full, already about 3/4 loaded.

Bai Dahai and Yang Limin immediately decided to return to port after collecting the gillnets and longlines.

The five baskets with a total of 1000 hooks caught over three hundred fish, which could only be considered commendable.

The fish species were also common; most were Sea Bass, about 100 of them, and various types of snapper. Four Sea Eel weighing about ten jin each were caught, and dozens of Grouper weighing four to five jin each. The rest were miscellaneous fish.

Next was the gillnet. Bai Dazheng used a gaff hook to retrieve the buoy, wrapped the rope around the winch, and the gillnet was slowly pulled out of the sea as the winch started.

It was densely covered with yellowfin seabream. There were six people on the harvest: Chen Zhongwei was steering the boat, Chen Dong was operating the winch, and the other three were sitting on stools, removing fish.

The single species wasn't too much trouble, but the sheer quantity meant that a few people didn't even have time to talk, just continuously untangling fish with their heads down.

These first two nets must have just happened to encounter a school of yellowfin seabream.

The subsequent gillnets had a mix of fish species, all sorts of miscellaneous fish: sole, needlefish, Yellow Chicken Fish, flathead snapper, Spanish Mackerel, and some Grouper.

Seeing some fish with only their heads left, it was clear that Grouper and Spanish Mackerel had seen the fish stuck in the net and wanted a share, but those with bad luck accidentally got stuck themselves.

Bai Dahai and Yang Limin discussed and decided not to deploy the gillnets for now, but to return to port first. After selling the catch, they would rest for a day.

Once all the fish were sent into the freezing hold, the harvest began its return journey.

They couldn't rest on the way back either. After deploying the trawl net, some cleaned the deck, while others cooked.

In the rippling blue sea, the harvest steadily pulled the trawl net, laden with a full harvest, and sailed homeward.