How to choose high-quality fish maw?
The top-quality fish maw is ranked as follows: King of Fish Maw: Golden Threadfin Fish Maw (Yellow Croaker), White Flower Fish Maw (Large White Flower Fish), Yellow Sturgeon Fish Maw (Sturgeon), Yellow Flower Fish Maw (Large Yellow Croaker), Threadfin Fish Maw (Large Threadfin Fish), and Giant Eel Fish Maw (Giant Eel).
Golden croaker maw is considered the king of fish maws, extremely rare, and generally collected as a collectible. Its price per kilogram can reach hundreds of thousands of yuan. The golden croaker, a type of fish that lives in deep-sea caves year-round and doesn't eat bait, is also very rare, making it difficult to catch under normal circumstances. Golden croaker maw has many medicinal uses, historically considered a life-saving remedy, primarily for its hemostatic and blood-replenishing properties. However, its collectible value far outweighs its edible value.
Fish maw is not only a famous dish at banquets, but also has considerable nourishing and medicinal value.
How to choose high-quality fish maw?
Many people don't know how to choose fish maw, thinking that as long as it's big enough, or as long as it's expensive or thick, it's good. In fact, these ideas are wrong. The quality of fish maw should be understood from a comprehensive perspective.
High-quality fish maw, after stewing, will not have a fishy smell, will not become mushy, and will not dissolve; it will be smooth and refreshing. Most low-quality fish maw can only be used for making soup, while high-quality fish maw can be used to make dishes. To choose high-quality fish maw, consider the following:
Several aspects to consider:
1. The best quality fish maw is clean, free of blood vessels and bruises, semi-transparent, and a light yellowish hue. Genuine fish maw is not uniformly colored or completely white and crystal clear; it has natural patterns and an uneven amber color. This is because the best quality fish maw has not been bleached. In today's seafood market, many vendors bleach fish maw with bleach to improve its appearance, but this destroys its natural health benefits. The truly good fish maw is the one with its original color and some blood vessels.
2. Size and Thickness: For the same type of fish maw, the larger the size and the thicker the body, the better the quality. The best quality is one piece weighing one pound. There's a saying, "Ten pounds of fish yield one ounce of fish maw." This shows that a single piece of fish maw weighing a few ounces represents a fish weighing tens of pounds.
3. The drier the fish maw, the better. When purchasing fish maw, you can hold it up to a light to check its quality. If the fish maw is translucent, it is of better quality. Fish maw with high moisture content is dull and lacks luster. Some fish maw may not be completely dry inside during drying, usually with a transparent periphery and a cloudy center, which is called "flower heart." Avoid choosing this type of fish maw. The longer it is dried, the more moldy the flower heart will become, and it will emit a foul odor after soaking, making it unfit for consumption.
4. Choosing Between Male and Female Fish Maw: Fish maw is divided into male and female types. Taking Guangmao (a type of fish maw) as an example, male fish maw is mostly shaped like a saddle, thicker in the middle and thinner on both sides, with V-shaped stripes. The best quality fish maw is firm, thick, dry, golden yellow, and semi-transparent. It is firm and chewy after cooking. As for female fish maw, it is mostly slightly round and flat, shaped like a corrugated board, with horizontal or wavy stripes. It is thinner, dissolves easily after cooking, has a softer texture, and is cheaper than male fish maw.
5. Odor: High-quality fish maw has no fishy or foul smell. After stewing, it should also have no fishy smell, and be crisp and smooth, not slippery.
The darker the color of fish maw aged 6 years, the older it is. The advantage of aged fish maw is that the concentration of collagen decreases, making its nutrients easier for the body to absorb, thus increasing its nourishment. Old fish maw is more yellow in color, and its texture can be categorized as dark yellow or golden yellow, and it has no fishy smell; new fish maw is whiter in color and has a strong fishy smell.
7. Fish maw is produced in various places including Myanmar, Brazil, New Zealand, and India, but the highest-priced fish maw comes from the waters off the coast of Guangdong, especially the "golden coin" fish maw from the Humen sea area. This is because the waters in this area are brackish, with a high natural mineral content, unlike other places where the water is entirely saltwater, resulting in exceptionally high-quality fish maw.
8. Examine the texture and quality of the fish maw. Some fish maws are coarse, while others are tender. Hold the fish maw up in good light to examine its internal lines and texture, which helps determine its quality. Truly high-quality fish maw will not fall apart no matter how long it is stewed.
There are other factors that also determine the quality of fish maw. In short, natural, pure, wild, and aged fish maw is good fish maw. The above eight points are the most basic methods of judgment.
