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Fresh and flavorful and on your plate now
By Tan Weiyun |
February 28, 2009, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Jinshan's famous "Seafood Street" has come into its own, luring perceptive city dwellers with its cheap abundant catches, variety and cooking styles. Tan Weiyun carries out some sampling
If a busy day has worked up a big appetite, why not plan a spring trip to a sunny beach and try some of the seafood dishes at Jinshan's famous "Seafood Street?"
Here the variety of seafood dishes should be able to satisfy even the most discriminating palate.
The 1,000-meter road along Jinshan Beach features about 10 seafood bistros and has become a popular haunt for locals and city diners. During holidays and especially on summer evenings after sunset, it is packed with gourmands.
"The food here is much cheaper and fresher than downtown," says Yang Haibin, who for three years has run the Golden Coastline Restaurant on the street.
The small two-story restaurant overlooks the sea. When the weather is fine, the sea glitters in the sun like a silver salver shining in the distance. And guests can swallow delicacies while enjoying the view.
The restaurant's menu changes with the seasons. "We cook what we've caught each day, so we don't have a fixed seafood menu. The key word for our seafood is fresh," Yang says.
Having been in the catering industry for a decade, the Jinshan-native who lives near the sea is very familiar with the sea and seafood. "The sea presents its gifts to us each season," Yang says.
In May, they fish white shrimps, yellow croakers, hairtails, crabs and pomfrets. In June, banshua fish (a type of fish shaped like a brush) and blue crabs are in season. In July, they get anchovies and mackerel, while in October, sea eels and saury swimming from the Yangtze River are the best seasonal dish. From November till the year's end, it's time for blue crabs.
Most of the restaurant owners like Yang have their own fishing boats and they hire local fishermen. Each day, they can choose from boats filled with fish, crabs and clams.
Some of the local farmers also fish part-time and sell the catch on the road, often cheaper and fresher than the city center's wet markets.
They've mastered the vagaries of the sea's timekeeping, discovering that the tide rises from each month's 13th day to the 22nd day and then wanes from the 27th day to the next month's 3rd day, according to the Chinese lunar calendar.
When the tide rises, it usually brings the fishermen a bigger catch and on those days the roadside stalls, which turn into a mini fishing market, are packed with local farmers and fishermen, selling what they have only just caught.
As the menu changes depending on the daily catch, Yang has created various cooking styles for his diners.
Different parts of a brown croaker are prepared and served separately. The fish's natural jelly is best steamed to keep its original flavor while the head can be removed and braised in soy sauce.
The little yellow croaker is a popular dish among Yang's guests. The fish is usually roasted with salt. When served, it is threaded on a bamboo stick.
The banshua fish should be steamed, Yang says, and this is the best way of bringing out the tender flavors. Oysters should be eaten raw, served chilled on a bed of ice.
Thinly sliced, buttered pumpernickel or crisp thin crackers complete the raw oyster experience.
Yang says he sometimes chooses freshly shucked oysters for broiling, smoking, or baking on the half-shell. "But my guests prefer raw oysters," he says.
The white shrimps they catch locally are usually larger than those sold in the markets downtown.
It's very simple to cook white shrimps.
Wash the shrimps first and then steam them in salt water with garlic and a little rice wine for about two minutes.
Yellow spiral shell, a mollusk from the inshore tidal areas, tastes tender and crisp and can be cooked in a variety of ways including salting, boiling, frying, braising.
"Shanghai people like it salted and wined, which we're good at," Yang says. "It's a traditional Shanghai style. My guests often sit happily during meals with a serving of spiral shells and a bowl of congee."
He also dries and cures fish himself. Fish are split open and gutted, liberally sprinkled with salt and left to dry in the hot sun and strong sea wind.
"Dried and cured fish might be a no-no for some people, but there are many people who really love them," Yang says. "The salt is needed to prevent bacteria forming on the surface. Once the fish are dried they can be stored for months without deteriorating."
Seafood on the road is indeed much cheaper than downtown. One can eat as much seafood as one likes for 50 yuan (US$7.35), plus enjoy the freshness and the view. For the same amount of fish in the city the price could be more than 200 yuan.
Several restaurants on the seafood road run their business like Yang's. They also offer seafood gift packages ranging from 300 yuan to 500 yuan.
How to get there:
You can drive via the A4 Expressway (Xinfengjin Expressway), and take the Jinshan New City exit. Drive straight until you see a big guide board for Jinshan City Beach, and the Seafood Street is around the corner. It takes about 45 minutes from downtown.
You can also take buses of Lianshi Line, Lianwei Line and Weimei Line at the Lianhua Road Metro Station on Metro Line 1. But it takes at least one hour getting there.
If a busy day has worked up a big appetite, why not plan a spring trip to a sunny beach and try some of the seafood dishes at Jinshan's famous "Seafood Street?"
Here the variety of seafood dishes should be able to satisfy even the most discriminating palate.
The 1,000-meter road along Jinshan Beach features about 10 seafood bistros and has become a popular haunt for locals and city diners. During holidays and especially on summer evenings after sunset, it is packed with gourmands.
"The food here is much cheaper and fresher than downtown," says Yang Haibin, who for three years has run the Golden Coastline Restaurant on the street.
The small two-story restaurant overlooks the sea. When the weather is fine, the sea glitters in the sun like a silver salver shining in the distance. And guests can swallow delicacies while enjoying the view.
The restaurant's menu changes with the seasons. "We cook what we've caught each day, so we don't have a fixed seafood menu. The key word for our seafood is fresh," Yang says.
Having been in the catering industry for a decade, the Jinshan-native who lives near the sea is very familiar with the sea and seafood. "The sea presents its gifts to us each season," Yang says.
In May, they fish white shrimps, yellow croakers, hairtails, crabs and pomfrets. In June, banshua fish (a type of fish shaped like a brush) and blue crabs are in season. In July, they get anchovies and mackerel, while in October, sea eels and saury swimming from the Yangtze River are the best seasonal dish. From November till the year's end, it's time for blue crabs.
Most of the restaurant owners like Yang have their own fishing boats and they hire local fishermen. Each day, they can choose from boats filled with fish, crabs and clams.
Some of the local farmers also fish part-time and sell the catch on the road, often cheaper and fresher than the city center's wet markets.
They've mastered the vagaries of the sea's timekeeping, discovering that the tide rises from each month's 13th day to the 22nd day and then wanes from the 27th day to the next month's 3rd day, according to the Chinese lunar calendar.
When the tide rises, it usually brings the fishermen a bigger catch and on those days the roadside stalls, which turn into a mini fishing market, are packed with local farmers and fishermen, selling what they have only just caught.
As the menu changes depending on the daily catch, Yang has created various cooking styles for his diners.
Different parts of a brown croaker are prepared and served separately. The fish's natural jelly is best steamed to keep its original flavor while the head can be removed and braised in soy sauce.
The little yellow croaker is a popular dish among Yang's guests. The fish is usually roasted with salt. When served, it is threaded on a bamboo stick.
The banshua fish should be steamed, Yang says, and this is the best way of bringing out the tender flavors. Oysters should be eaten raw, served chilled on a bed of ice.
Thinly sliced, buttered pumpernickel or crisp thin crackers complete the raw oyster experience.
Yang says he sometimes chooses freshly shucked oysters for broiling, smoking, or baking on the half-shell. "But my guests prefer raw oysters," he says.
The white shrimps they catch locally are usually larger than those sold in the markets downtown.
It's very simple to cook white shrimps.
Wash the shrimps first and then steam them in salt water with garlic and a little rice wine for about two minutes.
Yellow spiral shell, a mollusk from the inshore tidal areas, tastes tender and crisp and can be cooked in a variety of ways including salting, boiling, frying, braising.
"Shanghai people like it salted and wined, which we're good at," Yang says. "It's a traditional Shanghai style. My guests often sit happily during meals with a serving of spiral shells and a bowl of congee."
He also dries and cures fish himself. Fish are split open and gutted, liberally sprinkled with salt and left to dry in the hot sun and strong sea wind.
"Dried and cured fish might be a no-no for some people, but there are many people who really love them," Yang says. "The salt is needed to prevent bacteria forming on the surface. Once the fish are dried they can be stored for months without deteriorating."
Seafood on the road is indeed much cheaper than downtown. One can eat as much seafood as one likes for 50 yuan (US$7.35), plus enjoy the freshness and the view. For the same amount of fish in the city the price could be more than 200 yuan.
Several restaurants on the seafood road run their business like Yang's. They also offer seafood gift packages ranging from 300 yuan to 500 yuan.
How to get there:
You can drive via the A4 Expressway (Xinfengjin Expressway), and take the Jinshan New City exit. Drive straight until you see a big guide board for Jinshan City Beach, and the Seafood Street is around the corner. It takes about 45 minutes from downtown.
You can also take buses of Lianshi Line, Lianwei Line and Weimei Line at the Lianhua Road Metro Station on Metro Line 1. But it takes at least one hour getting there.
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