Chinese folk are known as the "four big fish", and the so-called "four big fish" are actually four kinds of fish that are widely distributed in China, easy to breed, large in production and have high economic value. But the vast majority of people don't know that the carp and crucian carp we are familiar with are not among the "four big fish", why is this?
So what are the 4 kinds of fish in the "Four Big Fish"?Take stock one by one.
First: herring.
The first of the folk "four big fish", herring. The whole person is in a circle!I'm sure the first time you see this name, you're confused. In today's China, herring is a fish with a very low sense of existence, and even many young people have never heard of it, let alone imagine that this product is actually one of the "four big fish", and it also dominates.
However, although it has now been put into the "cold palace", it is not in vain in history, and it has a lot of origins. With its tender and delicious meat, herring has been the main food fish of princes and nobles for a long time in history, and it can be called a veritable "noble fish".
Herring carp, also known as black grass carp, is mainly distributed in the plain areas south of the Yangtze River in China. In terms of appearance, the biggest difference between herring and grass carp is that the herring is blue-black (so it is called herring) and the color is darker, while the grass carp is grass yellow and lighter in color. In addition, the head of the grass carp is rounded, but the head of the herring is pointed and long. As the largest and fastest-growing fish among the "four major fish", herring has extremely high economic value and is one of the best farmed fish in the history of our country.
In terms of living Xi, herring is common in deep and clear slow-flowing waters, mainly feeding on small snails, mussels and insects, because the food is better, the growth rate is extremely fast, and the life span is even more amazing, it is said that it can reach up to 40 years, the heaviest can reach hundreds of pounds, among the freshwater fish, the herring is undoubtedly the giant of the aircraft carrier class.
If the herring is so good, why is it so difficult for us to see it now?Is the herring not fragrant?No. The herring is cold now, and in the final analysis, it boils down to one sentence: too picky eater. As mentioned above, herring mainly feeds on snails and mussels, and snails and mussels themselves have high economic value, and they are expensive to speak of.
If you think about it, farmers have to spend a lot of money to buy snails in order to feed herring, which is not a fart by taking off their pants!The input-output is not cost-effective. Nowadays, few people are willing to breed herring, and herring, the head of the "four big fish" that has been famous for thousands of years, has gradually faded out of our table.
It's not your fault that you're a picky eater, but you shouldn't eat snails because we're going to eat snail noodles. Hey hey!
Second: grass carp.
The list of the folk "four big fish", grass carp. Grass carp, commonly known as grass root, is a carp of the family Cyprinidae, with an elongated body with a wide head but a slightly flattened front. As one of the "four major fish", grass carp is widely distributed in China, from Guangdong in the south to Heilongjiang in the north, except for ** and Xinjiang, it is distributed in all provinces and major water systems in the country.
As one of the most common fish in our lives today, grass carp is delicious, beautiful, many restaurants in the pickled cabbage fish, grilled fish, boiled fish and even hot pot scalded fish fillets, all like to use grass carp, as mentioned earlier, grass carp ** beautiful low cost.
Grass carp is not only agile and cheerful, but also swims fast like lightning, and likes to go out in groups to feed. In terms of living Xi, grass carp mainly inhabit the middle and lower layers of rivers and lakes and coastal aquatic grass areas, and mainly feed on aquatic plants.
What can it do if it doesn't eat grass?
But strangely, although grass carp likes to eat grass, it did not grow from snack grass. As a child, the grass carp was a meat eater and loved to eat plankton, earthworms and insects.
Grass carp grows fast, can grow to more than ten catties or even dozens of catties, and has broad prospects for breeding. In China, grass carp has a history of more than 1,700 years of breeding, but in the past, it was mainly fed by natural fish fry in rivers, and the real realization of artificial breeding began after the successful realization of artificial breeding in 1958.
Grass carp first originated in China, and now it has been widely introduced to all over the world, including India, Malaysia, Hungary, Sweden and other 93 countries, all of which have taken the initiative to introduce grass carp from China, but the most failed and humiliating country to introduce is the United States. In the 70s of the last century, the inland algae in the United States overflowed, because of the advice of Japanese experts, the introduction of several freshwater fish, including grass carp and carp, from China, resulting in a protracted "Asian carp disaster".
Third: silver carp.
The folk "four big fish" of the flower, silver carp. Once the most common of the "Big Four" and the easiest to identify, the silver carp has small scales and a signature silvery-white belly. Silver carp is widely distributed in China, from Hainan Island in the south to Heilongjiang in the north, and rivers and lakes are everywhere. Nowadays, silver carp has become the main object of reservoirs, lakes and ponds in China due to its fast growth, strong disease resistance, easy breeding and ecological functions of purifying water quality.
What's more funny is that the silver carp can be called the "Li Kui" among the four big fish, with a violent temperament, and the slightest movement will be terrified, jumping high from the water and shooting waves. However, as a filter-feeding fish, silver carp is a useful fish for society because it sucks water and filters plankton out of its gills for food.
Silver carp prefer to inhabit slow-flowing waters, diving deep during the day and surfacing at night in search of prey, with plankton being their main target. The growth rate of silver carp is also relatively fast, and the lifespan can reach 10 years, but it is not comparable to the longevity star of herring.
Although it is one of the "four major fish", silver carp is not very popular today. Even if it's ** beautiful, but fewer and fewer people buy it to eat at home, what is the reason?Bottom line: silver carp is a thorn. There are too many spines in silver carp, especially the small silver carp, which can be hit by accident. However, the bigger the silver carp, the better it is, and the silver carp of more than 10 catties not only has fewer fish bones, but also really not many fish bones.
With such a high-quality ingredient, let's not give it up.
Fourth: Fathead fish.
U.S. Fishing Tournament Site, Mississippi River.
The fourth of the folk "four big fish", fathead fish. The fathead fish is the bighead carp, also known as the silver carp, but don't get me wrong, it has nothing to do with silver carp. Although the fathead fish is the last of the "four big fish", it is the fattest fish among them and is deeply loved by the people. Hunan people's favorite chopped pepper fish head, Hangzhou Qiandao Lake's haunting big fish head, all used are fathead fish.
Chop the fish head with peppers. Big fish head in Qiandao Lake.
Why is bighead carp called fathead fish?It's the same mood as the day I pay the rent every month, my head is big. The head of this thing is really large, almost taking up a third of the body. Bighead carp prefer to inhabit deep, clear, slow-flowing waters and feed on plankton.
Bighead carp is a filter-feeding fish that filters plankton from the water by a special structure of its gills, and has a penchant for smelly and sour foods. Therefore, the current farms generally like to feed it with a sour smell of bean dregs powder, bran and rice bran to eat, the smell is similar!
Bighead carp is native to China, from Hainan Island in the south to Heilongjiang in the north, and is distributed in all major river systems, especially in the Yangtze River basin. Europe, North America, southern Africa and New Zealand in Australia have also introduced and cultured, but the most failed and humiliating country for the introduction of bighead carp is still the United States!Because, in the Asian carp family, which is regarded as a "flood beast" by Americans, this bighead carp is the most capable of fighting.
Knock on the blackboard!Now here's the problem:
Why is our most common carp not the "Four Great Fish"?There is also a delicious crucian carp, why can't it be squeezed into the list of "four big fish"?Isn't it fragrant?
In fact, the mention of the "four big fish" first originated in the Tang Dynasty more than 1,000 years ago. Since then, the folk have collectively called the four major fish, namely green, grass, silver carp and bighead carp, but the carp, which is the most well-known and has the most fans in China, unfortunately fell off the listThere is a simple and crude explanation for this problem: the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was surnamed Li. In fact, this is a bit far-fetched, the carp failed to be selected as one of the four major fish, no wonder there are other fish.
As we all know, carp have strong adaptability and reproduction, are not picky about the living environment, and are not particular about eating and drinking, and basically belong to good citizens who live and work in peace and contentment. It's not a bad thing to have a strong reproductive ability, but if you have too much reproductive ability, it's not very good. To put it bluntly, you are too capable of giving birth, and if you are not careful, you will overflow, crowding out your peers and affecting the ecological balance. When the Americans introduced carp, they suffered this loss.
Let's talk about crucian carp. The crucian carp is delicious and mouth-watering, and the braised crucian carp and crucian carp tofu soup are all classics. But the problem with crucian carp is that it grows too slowly!In ancient times, there was a saying among the folk that crucian carp was a "hair thing" and should not be eaten more. From a scientific point of view, there is a lack of evidence, but it also affects the status of crucian carp to a greater or lesser extent.