I feel that most creatures, no matter how ferocious they appear to be, are generally very friendly to their own kind.
But not hairtail.
It eats hairtail.
There are small free spines on the abdomen of the hairtail, and it cannot use its fins to paddle when swimming. It preys on shrimps, squids and other small fish by swinging its body. Because its swimming ability is extremely poor, it often cannot catch enough food to survive.
When food is scarce, they will attack their own kind fiercely and eat their corpses, much like some sharks.
However, cannibalism is not the norm for cutlassfish. Most of the time, they are relatively friendly to their own kind. When food is relatively abundant, they usually float quietly on the surface of the sea during the day and sink to the bottom of the sea at night. When they are still, their heads are up and their bodies are vertical. They only rely on the waving of their dorsal and pectoral fins, and their eyes watch the movements above their heads. If they find prey, their dorsal fins will vibrate rapidly and their bodies will bend like a spring to pounce on the food.
After catching food, cutlassfish will not enjoy it immediately. Instead, they will drag the food back to the group and share it with their companions, which is very similar to lions.
Hairtails will share food with their companions when there is plenty of food. This is because they have the characteristic of lining up in groups. Every spring when the water temperature rises, hairtails will swim in groups to the shore to cool off. When the water temperature drops during the winter solstice, they will swim in groups to the deep water to avoid the cold.
"Bang." The fishing net was dragged over the side of the ship by Chen Qingsheng, and the four sea fish inside were hit heavily on the deck, and were immediately knocked unconscious.
"Go, get two foam boxes from the cabin and freeze the fish." Chen Qingsheng ordered.
Xiang Yang walked over and took a look at the cutlassfish. To be honest, cutlassfish are much rarer in the southern waters than in the northern waters. This was the first time Xiang Yang had seen a truly wild and living cutlassfish.
Hairtail was once the top of my country's four major marine fishes, with an annual output of more than 500,000 tons.
However, due to large-scale fishing in recent years, the total production of hairtail has gradually decreased, and even the title of the top of the four major marine fishes was almost taken away by squid.
"Let's not freeze this fish, shall we?" Xiang Yang said, "A hairtail fish won't sell for much money if we take it home, and it won't taste good if it's frozen. How about we cook it and eat it now?"
"Okay." He Mingde smiled and said, "There are many ways to cook hairtail at home. The fish meat is tender, fat, and delicious. Except for the big bone in the middle, there is not a single thorn in the body. I recommend braised hairtail. The fish meat is delicate and tender, and the taste is salty and sweet. It is definitely a top-notch seafood that you can savor for a long time after eating it once."
"Braised hairtail is too greasy, I still think fried hairtail tastes better." Chen Qingsheng narrowed his eyes when he talked about eating, "Fried hairtail is refreshing, no need to dip it in flour, no need for egg liquid, just fry it in oil, the plain surface is better than any seasoning."
“The braised hairtail fish is tender and fresh.”
“Dry fried hairtail fish is refreshing.”
“Braised hairtail fish is nutritious.”
“Dry fried hairtail fish is low in calories.”
... ...
He Mingde and Chen Qingsheng argued over whether the hairtail fish should be braised or fried.
Xiang Yang actually prefers dry-frying. Compared with braised hairtail, dry-frying hairtail is indeed healthier.
But Xiang Yang didn't want to offend He Mingde directly, so he said: "This hairtail fish is so big? You two can each cut half? Half is braised, and the other is fried dry."
"Okay? Then I'll make braised fish head." He Mingde said immediately.
"No, you make the braised fish tail and I'll make the fried fish head."
Xiang Yang's face darkened. "Have you ever seen anyone cut a fish in half by cutting it from the waist? Cut it in the middle? Each of you takes half."
The two men then carried the cutlassfish to the cabin.
As soon as he arrived at the cabin, Chen Qingsheng whispered, "Brother De? I'm sorry for what happened just now."
"It's okay." He Mingde waved his hand. "Actually, you don't have to be like this. Although I'm leaving soon, Xiaoyang and I have already agreed that all of you will continue to follow Xiaoyang. There's no need to act so deliberately. It's not good to be too deliberate."
"I know." Chen Qingsheng smiled bitterly, "But I'm afraid. I'm afraid that my boss won't want me when he buys a big ship. Strictly speaking, my work experience is not enough to be a boatswain of a large ocean-going fishing vessel. I'm worried that my boss will keep me on your ship."
He Mingde smiled and said, "Why, are you so unwilling to stay on my ship?"
Chen Qingsheng shook his head. "Brother De, what you said is meaningless. If I didn't want to, would I follow you to this ship? But then this ship won't belong to you alone. I have nothing to say about you and Boss Xiang, but what about other bosses? Have you dealt with them?"
"Let's not talk about this." He Mingde shook his head. "Cut the fish."
Dry fried hairtail is easy to make. It is a simple, delicious and inexpensive home-cooked dish.
After Chen Qingsheng cut the fish, he first prepared a bag of fragrant broth, which is an indispensable ingredient for making dry-fried hairtail fish, because dry-fried hairtail fish needs to be served with broth to taste good.
The method of making the brine is also simple. Add 400 grams of fragrant glutinous rice + 200 grams of water + 10 grams of sugar, stir evenly, and sprinkle some chopped green onions, coriander, etc., and it is ready.
It is worth mentioning that the marinade is not poured on the fish after it is cooked. Before frying the hairtail fish, cut it into small pieces and soak it in the marinade. There is no fixed soaking time. A shorter time, ten minutes will be enough, and the taste will be lighter.
If you want a saltier taste, soak it for a longer time so that the fried hairtail will taste saltier.
Chen Qingsheng put the hairtail pieces in the marinade and cooked them for about fifteen minutes before taking them out. Relatively speaking, he actually prefers a lighter taste so that the original flavor of the hairtail can be preserved.
He Mingde saw Chen Qingsheng taking the hairtail out of the brine and about to put it in the pot, so he hurriedly called him, "What are you doing? Putting the fish in the pot without even scraping the skin?"
"No need to scrape it. The fish skin that has been fried until golden brown is actually the most delicious part of the whole hairtail fish." Chen Qingsheng poured the hairtail fish meat directly into the pot and fried it slowly over low heat. The salty and fragrant aroma soon filled the entire cabin.
The method of dry-frying hairtail is relatively simple. It can be eaten after it is fried and fragrant.
The preparation of braised hairtail is much more difficult. The ingredients alone require salt, sugar, cooking wine, onion, red pepper, starch, ginger, garlic, etc. Although it is braised like braised pork, the preparation methods are actually not similar at all.
Over there, Chen Qingsheng was already frying the hairtail fish, while He Mingde had just made a broth with onions, ginger, garlic, salt, sugar, cooking wine, and starch. As for the hairtail fish, he was still marinating it with salt and cooking wine to remove the fishy smell.