If you want the horse to run, you have to give it grass.
After hearing what Xiang Yang said, the crew members immediately screamed and dived to the bottom of the sea, with greater enthusiasm than before.
In all the time they had been doing before, the crew had only caught more than 500 kilograms of swimming crabs. This time, in less than 20 minutes, the number of swimming crabs on Xiang Yang's boat nearly doubled.
One of the crew members even dragged up a blue grouper weighing more than ten kilograms. This fish was very ferocious in the water and no one knew how he managed to pull it up.
After Fang Youqun went diving several times in a row, Xiang Yang didn't allow him to go down anymore, but he couldn't sit still, so he helped clean the catch.
"Hey, Brother Yang, look." Fang Youqun opened a net bag and suddenly exclaimed as if he had discovered a new continent.
"What are you looking at?" Xiang Yang glanced over there and saw Fang Youqun holding a different crab in his hand. The crab was as big as a palm, but it was not green or gray, but golden yellow.
"Golden crab." Fang Youqun held the crab in his hands as if he had found a treasure. "Brother Yang, do you think this golden crab is very valuable?"
Xiang Yang smiled and said, "This looks like a butter crab. It's rare to see butter crabs this big. Who provided this net bag? Ask him where he caught this butter crab."
Butter crab, also known as golden crab, is actually roe crab. When the tide is low, the strong sunlight causes the water temperature to rise, and the roe crab will secrete a golden oily substance in its body. This golden oily substance will penetrate into every part of the crab's body, making the entire crab body full of butter.
"Golden crabs of this quality are too rare." Zhang Qichen came over and said regretfully, "There are just too few of them. There is only one."
Xiang Yang asked Zhang Qicheng, "Boss Zhang, do you also buy this kind of golden crab?"
"Nonsense." Zhang Qicheng said, "The golden oil in the golden crab has extremely high nutritional value. It is a tonic that is very nutritious and sweet. After it is cooked, the butter blends into the crab meat, which becomes golden yellow and tastes delicious. It is the best crab. How could I not buy such crabs? I'll buy as many as you have."
Zhang Qicheng's words made Xiang Yang want to eat.
Xiang Yang smiled, handed the crab to Fang Youqun and said, "Fang Youqun, please steam this crab for me tonight. I will try the taste. If it tastes good, I will pay attention to it next time I go to the sea."
"Okay, Captain." Fang Youqun agreed and was about to pick up the golden crab.
Zhang Qicheng quickly stopped him, "No, no, it's a waste to steam a golden crab of this level. We have to take it back and cook it well. Give me this crab and I'll give you one thousand yuan."
"Hmm?" Xiang Yang hummed.
"One thousand yuan?" Chen Qingsheng widened his eyes.
Fang Youqun's hands shook and he almost dropped the golden crab onto the deck and killed it.
"Isn't this price a bit high?" Xiang Yang asked doubtfully.
As far as Xiang Yang knows, the average butter crab costs only about 500 to 600 yuan per pound, and the transformation of butter crabs is largely accidental, and artificial breeding is almost non-existent. Why is it that it costs a thousand yuan per crab here at Zhang Qicheng's place
"False? Not false at all." Zhang Qicheng explained: "What you know is butter crab, not golden crab. Although butter crab and golden crab are the same kind of crab, butter crab can be called golden crab and golden crab can also be called butter crab, but in fact, in the industry, the names of golden crab and butter crab are two levels of distinction between the two."
"Touch its leg joints." Zhang Qicheng said.
Xiang Yang pressed it and said, "It's a little soft."
"That's right, it's soft. Golden crabs are also called soft-legged crabs. In the industry, only butter crabs with soft leg joints can be called golden crabs. This is because the cream in their bodies has been transformed into oil. If it's hard when you press it, it means that the cream in its body has not been transformed thoroughly enough, so it can't be called a golden crab, it can only be called a butter crab."
Xiang Yang looked at Zhang Qicheng. "One has weak legs and the other has strong legs. Why is the price so different?"
"The price difference is greater than you think. The five or six hundred yuan per pound of butter crab you mentioned is the market price, and the one thousand yuan per pound I mentioned is the purchase price of golden crab. In fact, the selling price of a golden crab, including the cooking cost, should be at least two thousand yuan." Zhang Qicheng said with a smile.
Xiang Yangmei's heart skipped a beat. "Two thousand yuan for a crab, so expensive?"
"Scarcity makes things valuable. The number of golden crabs is too small. Not to mention golden crabs, even the number of butter crabs is not large." Zhang Qicheng sighed.
Fang Youqun asked a question, "Golden crab and butter crab are both the same crab, the only difference is that one has soft legs and the other has hard legs. Is there really anyone willing to spend several times more to eat this golden crab? Isn't it the same if you just eat it as it is?"
"Why should people with money settle for less?" Zhang Qicheng blinked his eyes. "Some people eat just to fill their stomachs, while some people are particular about what they eat. The price of butter crabs is in an awkward position, so some people are unwilling to settle for less. Ordinary people can't bear to eat them. But golden crabs are absolutely invaluable. I can help you sell as many as you catch. Not to mention the ones far away, Brother Chao's hotel consumes hundreds of them a day like it's a game."
Fang Youqun was shocked. He was speechless at what Zhang Qicheng said.
In fact, butter crabs and golden crabs are more expensive in Hong Kong and Macau.
Butter crab is a precious edible crab species in Guangdong, Hong Kong and other places. It is well-known in the south and is known as the "king of crabs".
Its price is the highest among all domestic crabs. In Xiangjiang Restaurant, butter crabs are priced by the pound, and each 50 grams sells for hundreds of Hong Kong dollars. It is a very, very precious seafood.
However, the yield and quality of butter crabs are directly affected by the breeding environment and weather, and the production period is long. Therefore, even though its price has risen so high, few fishermen are willing to pay attention to it. Generally, they will dance with joy when they encounter it, and will never look for it deliberately if they don’t encounter it.
This is the wisdom of fishermen.
However, this wisdom obviously does not apply to Xiang Yang.
Xiang Yang smiled and said, "Since they are so precious, I will go down and look for them to see if I can find a few more. Fang Youqun, go get me my diving suit."
Fang Youqun immediately said, "Yes, Brother Yang." Then he trotted towards the cabin.
Zhang Qicheng tilted his mouth and said with a smile: "Brother Xiang, I really don't mean to discourage you, but you'd better not try to find the golden crab. You will never find it."
The predecessor of the golden crab is the butter crab.
The predecessor of butter crab is roe crab.
After all these changes, the number of golden crabs must be extremely rare. Looking for a palm-sized golden crab in such a vast sea is like looking for a needle in a haystack.