Wuzhishan Eel

Wuzhishan Eel

　　Wuzhishan Eel is a specialty of Wuzhishan City, Hainan Province. Also known as river eel, it is commonly called "shān má" and is ranked alongside Wuzhishan’s golden coin turtle, pheasant, and soft-shelled turtle as one of the region’s mountain delicacies. The eel has tender, delicate flesh, a delicious taste, and high nutritional value, containing 26.7% protein, 30.8% fat, particularly rich levels of vitamin A, as well as high amounts of elements such as phosphorus, calcium, and iron.

　　The eel has an elongated body that is round in the front and flat in the back, with a light yellow belly, resembling a sea eel. It typically weighs around ten to twenty jin, and the heaviest can reach dozens of jin. The picturesque Wuzhishan region, where five major rivers including the Wanquan River originate, is crisscrossed with streams.

　　The eel lives at the bottoms of deep valleys or in reservoirs. As an amphibious aquatic animal, it is quite intelligent. During heavy rains and flash floods when streams swell rapidly and fish and shrimp are scattered and hard to catch, the eel uses its remarkable skills to leave the water and climb ashore, slithering up the mountains like a snake in search of food. Driven by hunger, it eats young bamboo shoots in the hills and tender grass by the river. It can even climb trees to feed on wild fruits. The strong fishy smell left where the eel comes ashore is due to the mucus it secretes along the way—this helps it slide away swiftly to escape danger. It is extremely afraid of humans and will flee desperately along its path if it spots people or hears voices. Experienced eel catchers often take advantage of this trait by sprinkling wood charcoal or lime along its route. When the eel tries to return, the mucus-covered obstacles prevent it from sliding, making it easy to capture.

　　The eel has tender, delicate flesh, a delicious taste, and high nutritional value, containing 26.7% protein, 30.8% fat, particularly rich levels of vitamin A, as well as high amounts of elements such as phosphorus, calcium, and iron. It also has medicinal uses, with main functions including replenishing qi and vitality, dispelling rheumatism, and expelling parasites. It has tonic effects for preventing and treating night blindness and pneumonia, and provides certain auxiliary therapeutic benefits for conditions like fatigue, rheumatic bone pain, beriberi, and women’s uterine bleeding. Whether for nutrition or medicinal purposes, it serves as an excellent tonic for promoting metabolism, treating external injuries and bleeding, addressing congenital deficiencies, and correcting acquired imbalances.

　　The Japanese love eating eel, considering it a precious tonic comparable to Korean ginseng. They even designate the month around July 7th each year as Eel Day, and even families with modest incomes make sure to eat it two or three times during that period. People in Germany, the United States, the Netherlands, and other countries also view it as a valuable tonic. Therefore, eel is an extremely popular and highly sought-after delicacy both domestically and internationally.