Quikou Seafood

Quikou Seafood

　　Quikou Bay is located in Dongzhai Port, Haikou, known for its premium blue crabs, blood clams, oysters, and prawns. The blue crabs here typically weigh around 0.5 kilograms each, similar to those from Hainan’s famous Heluo.

　　The oysters from Quikou are considered the finest in all of Hainan—nowhere else have I tasted such incredibly fresh and delicious oysters. Oysters can be prepared by frying or roasting, but those cooked on a hot iron plate are especially flavorful. Blood eels are a unique type of eel that are boneless and spineless, with red-colored flesh throughout. Their meat is delicate and the broth rich. Oysters, the meat of the mussel, are delicious and nutritious, and can be eaten steamed or fried. They also offer medicinal benefits, and when boiled into soup, the broth resembles milk.

　　The prawns from Quikou Seafood include the Indian white prawn and the black tiger prawn, both renowned for their large size and great taste. Oysters can be prepared by frying or roasting, but those cooked on a hot iron plate are especially flavorful.

　　Apart from the months of August and September—when female crabs are spawning and thus less available—Quikou produces crabs for the other ten months of the year, especially around the Qingming Festival and the Winter Solstice. There are many ways to enjoy blue crabs, but steaming is the most common method. A popular local dish is crab cake, which is sweet, crisp, and fragrant, offering a unique flavor. Blood clams contain a juice inside that resembles blood; they are briefly blanched in boiling water before eating and have a wonderfully sweet taste. They are also believed to help dissolve phlegm and relieve excessive stomach acid.

　　Locals also have a method of cooking them over charcoal, called “original flavor blood clams.” Some families have the custom of eating blood clams on the first day of the Lunar New Year. People regard the clam shells as two “doors” and the clam meat as “ingots.” Eating clams on New Year’s Day symbolizes starting the new year by opening the “doors” to “treasure.” Oysters, the meat of the mussel, are delicious and nutritious, with medicinal value. When boiled into soup, the broth resembles milk, and they are often referred to as the “treasures of the sea.”