River Freshness Feast

River Freshness Feast

　　The representative delicacies of Yangtze River fish are the "Three Treasures of the Yangtze," namely hairtail, reeves shad, and pufferfish. The best season to enjoy hairtail is around the Qingming Festival. The Song Dynasty literary master Su Dongpo once wrote: "Are there still the sceneries of the south? Peach blossoms drift on flowing waters where the fish grow fat." Hairtail was anciently called "fish" because of its silvery-white color and shape like an unsheathed sharp knife, hence also named hairtail.

　　　　People in Jingjiang love eating hairtail and are especially skilled at preparing it. The most famous is the Hairtail Feast. A single hairtail feast spread across over 20 dishes, all made exclusively with hairtail — truly unbelievable. Dishes like "Wenwu Hairtail," "First-Class Tofu," "Hairtail Noodles," and "Sweet and Sour Fish Cubes" are so enticing just from their names.

　　　　"Wenwu Hairtail" features two hairtails in one bowl — one braised and one steamed — offering two distinct yet harmonious flavors. Hairtail noodles are made by mixing hairtail meat with eggs and flour, then rolled into short noodle-like strips that can be stir-fried or boiled. They are snow-white, translucent, tender, resilient, and smooth. "First-Class Tofu" is hairtail meat shaped like tofu, with ham slices arranged to form the Chinese characters for "First-Class" embedded on top, creating a striking red-and-white contrast. The term "First-Class" praises its taste as being of the highest quality.

　　　　Diners who enjoy the Hairtail Feast find the dishes incredibly fresh and tender, yet rarely know how the fine hairs on the hairtail are removed. It’s said that a single hairtail has nearly a thousand tiny bones, and removing them is the chef’s special skill.

　　　　In the past, a common method was to nail the hairtail upside down onto the back of a wooden pot lid, place an appropriate amount of water in the pot, lay a bamboo tray covered with gauze over the water, then cover with the pot lid and heat. The steam would cause the flesh to fall onto the gauze, leaving the bones behind. Now, chefs first carefully peel off the skin of the hairtail, which removes most of the fine bones along with it. Then they place pork skin underneath and gently tap the fish body with the back of a knife, causing the bones and spines to embed into the pork skin. Finally, with a light scrape of the knife, the pure hairtail meat is left behind. With this clean meat as the base and the chefs’ skillful preparation, a rich and luxurious Hairtail Feast is created. This is not just cooking — it’s crafting a perfect and extraordinary work of art.

　　　　The people of Jingjiang call reeves shad the "King of Fish," not only for its delicious taste and high nutritional value but also because, with environmental changes, its availability has become increasingly scarce.

　　　　As early as the Ming Dynasty, reeves shad was listed as a tribute. Every spring, officials would dispatch fast horses to deliver the fish day and night to the capital. Nowadays, in Jingjiang’s high-end restaurants, you can still enjoy the famous dish of steamed reeves shad.

　　　　What makes reeves shad unique is that its scales are not removed during cleaning or cooking, because the most delicious and nutritious part lies at the junction of the skin and scales. Besides being tender and fresh, reeves shad also has the richness and smoothness akin to suckling pig or lamb. For those who worry about chewing the scales, Jingjiang locals have a clever solution: the scales are peeled off, strung on a thread, and hung under the pot lid. When heated, the oil from the scales drips onto the fish. Once the oil is gone, the fish is cooked — preserving its flavor while eliminating the need to chew the scales. It’s truly ingenious.

　　　　There’s a famous saying in Jingjiang: "Risk your life to eat pufferfish." Pufferfish contain toxins potent enough to be fatal, so they must never be taken lightly. Yet people find it hard to resist their delicious taste, often citing Su Dongpo’s verse, "Reeds and mugwort cover the ground, reed sprouts are short — it’s the season when pufferfish are about to rise," as a reminder not to miss the pufferfish season, showing just how tempting it is. But nowadays, people can dine with peace of mind, as Jingjiang has introduced high-tech bioengineering techniques. Pufferfish farmed in enclosed riverbank pens retain the wild flavor while greatly reducing their toxicity.

　　　　What Jingjiang people mean by "risk your life to eat pufferfish" should actually be "scrub carefully to eat pufferfish." This means that when cleaning the fish, all toxic parts such as the liver, intestines, and eyes must be meticulously removed. Then the fish meat must be repeatedly rinsed in clean water until no trace of blood remains. Of course, it must also be thoroughly cooked. In fact, as long as a pufferfish is fully and properly cooked, it becomes non-toxic.

　　　　The beauty of pufferfish lies in its extraordinary aroma. Once cooked, its unique, rich, and enticing fragrance instantly fills the air, drifting through half the village, down alleys, and across neighborhoods. No wonder pufferfish is usually served as the final dish — once you’ve tasted it, all other dishes seem flavorless. It’s clear that pufferfish has the power to overshadow all other delicacies.