Just returned from a trip to Sydney where I visited their famous fish market. Everything was fresh and huge. There were a couple of interesting observations though: 1) The most common preparation technique used by the restaurants in the market was deep fried... battered, salt&pepper... obviously, it is the easiest to execute (without pro chefs), and deep fried food always has a draw with its aroma. But I can't help but sigh at the waste of such great ingredients. 2) Salmon heads and belly meat were going for a song. Obviously, Caucasian cuisine focus on fillets and chunks of meat.
Upon returning to Sg, I had a nice steamed fish at a hawker centre... and I started thinking again about how our young children are also going for only fillets and fried foods. This is perhaps the result of affluence? How sad! Small fish are very sweet and tender. The most delicious parts of fish are arguably the hardest to fillet: cheek, belly, fins. In learning how to eat a whole fish, I've learned a few life lessons:
- there is structure in a fish. Using brute force will only smash the flesh making it difficult to extract. The delicate use of chopsticks applying the right amount of force at the right positions will dislodge the flesh. In life, brute force will not solve problems. It is better to study the structure of the problem and deconstruct it into smaller parts.
- learning to eat parts of fish with lots of bones and spurs taught me about the sweetness of success that can be savored only after overcoming difficulties. It tastes different to have the bits extracted by paying others to do it. Part of the enjoyment is gained from sucking the juices from the bones and fins.
- extracting small bits of flesh often requires having both the flesh and the bones in the mouth. Once again, we don't fear the dangers but through understanding them and threading carefully/delicately, we can gain the prize.
- parts of the belly sometimes come with guts which is bitter. Interestingly, Chinese has two words for bitter. 苦 is literally bitter like gall. But often Chinese prefer to use the word 甘 to describe the taste of fish guts and bitter gourds. This word actually means sweet but not sugary sweet. There is a saying 苦尽甘来 which means when bitter has run it's course, sweetness will come. While often used to describe scenarios where perseverance leads to success, I believe it comes from flavours of food such as fish guts. The bitterness of the taste does not linger. After the brief bitterness, your taste buds are actually sensitized to sweetness. Such is the wisdom of our forefathers who wrote such deep allegories. If you are not willing to take the bitter, you will not learn to appreciate the sweet.
So, if you have not learned how to get a whole fish (every part) or taught your children to do so, perhaps it is a good time for you to start.
