Upon hearing this, Jiang Chunlan immediately got off the bus with her snakeskin bag. The two women, both nearing fifty, moved more nimbly than Fu Liang and Fu Ming.
Beachcombing inevitably involves venturing into the mudflats, so the group wore rubber boots. After securing the boot openings tightly, Fu Wan slowly carried her bucket and fire tongs into the mangrove forest.
The ecology of this mangrove forest is truly excellent. As soon as Fu Wan approached, she heard a lot of rustling sounds.
Looking up again, they saw many seabirds startled by their movements, taking flight.
Mangroves are called mangroves because these trees generally grow in the intertidal zone of the coast. The bark of these trees contains a special substance that easily oxidizes and turns red when exposed to air.
Because mangroves grow in the tidal zone of the coast, only the upper part of the mangrove remains above the water surface during each high tide.
This is why the lower half of mangroves is completely bare, and from a distance, they look like a bunch of yellow eels hanging from the branches. People living near the coast love mangroves because they play a vital role in marine ecosystems; these trees purify seawater and provide habitats for seabirds.
There are also many seabirds, shrimp, crabs and shellfish that breed here, thus achieving an ecological balance.
For fishermen, mangroves are also a sign of a bountiful harvest. They can find plenty of fish under the trees, and the mangroves can also serve as a defense against typhoons.
Meanwhile, mangroves also bear fruit, which fishermen use to make soup and tea. While admiring the mangrove fruit, Lan Qianfu walked into the mangrove forest. After only a few steps, she discovered two or three live starfish.
She picked them up casually, then turned and threw them into the sea not far away.
These starfish are brought ashore by the rising tide, and if they don't return to the water in time, they are likely to die.
Starfish are generally only used for making soup or sold to pharmacies. Grandpa Fu and his family often use starfish to make medicinal wine because, in traditional Chinese medicine, they are believed to have some benefits for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
However, these things are troublesome to process, as you need to remove the starfish's internal organs. Besides, the starfish that Fu Wan just picked up were smaller than her palm, so she simply didn't want them.
"Hey, there really are crabs!"
As soon as Fu Ming came down, he noticed the tracks left by the crabs and immediately perked up.
After walking a few steps, the group found a blue crab hiding in the mud next to the mangrove roots.
When Fu Wan approached, the crab tried desperately to lie down under the mud, but once the fire tongs arrived, all its struggles were in vain.
"Look, brothers!"
Fu Wan waved the fire tongs in her hand, and a blue crab was struggling with its claws outstretched, looking to weigh at least half a pound.
"Wow, they caught him!"
Fu Liang arrived the slowest; he moved all the bicycles aside and locked them before coming over.
Seeing Fu Wan's harvest, he was also envious and immediately rolled up his sleeves to join the search for blue crabs.
Even though they hadn't gone beachcombing for a while, Fu Wan and the other two's crab-hunting skills hadn't diminished in the slightest.
Following the tracks left by the crabs is a sure way to find them.
In just over an hour, the three of their buckets were already more than half full.
"Ouch, my back is a little sore from catching these crabs."
Fu Ming deliberately sighed, and Fu Wan and the other woman could easily hear the Versailles-like quality in his tone.
"Hurry up, after we catch the blue crabs, we need to see if there are any others."
Three buckets of mud crabs may seem like a lot, but there aren't actually that many crabs.
Because each crab in this bucket weighs more than five ounces, and many even weigh more than a pound.
Seeing that the bucket was full, Fu Wan walked over to the mudflats next to her.
There are no mangroves in this area; it's just a small, empty mudflat.
Because the tide has receded, there are still many colorful seashells and some claw marks left by seabirds on the surface.
However, Fu Wan noticed something was amiss; there were many small holes in the mud and sand, which looked like razor clam burrows.
Just thinking about the sweetness of razor clams made Fu Wan swallow hard.
"Brother, did we bring salt?"
Fu Wan called out to Fu Ming and Fu Liang, and Fu Ming slapped his thigh, "Oh dear, I forgot!"
Knowing he couldn't be relied on, Fu Liang patted his pocket and pulled out a bag of salt from a plastic bag.
"I have some, Awan, here you go!"
After saying that, he threw it at Fu Wan. Fortunately, his aim was good, and Fu Wan caught it and realized that the packaging bag was for peach shortbread.
Using salt to catch razor clams is a recent trend. After all, salt wasn't cheap in the past, and many people wouldn't have been willing to use it to catch razor clams by sprinkling salt on the mudflats.
Thinking this, Fu Wan sprinkled some salt on the mudflats. Before long, many razor clams couldn't stand it and began to emerge one after another. (Image of razor clams from the internet, please delete if infringing copyright) The feeling of suddenly seeing so many razor clams appear before her eyes was so wonderful that Fu Wan happily picked them up while humming a song.
"One, two, three, four..."
Wow, there are quite a few giant razor clams here, each as thick as a finger. These razor clams are delicious if you blanch them in boiling water when you get home!
"Brother, Brother Liang, how about we go home and have hot pot for dinner tonight?"
"A hot pot?"
Fu Liang was confused, but Fu Ming understood immediately.
"Okay, whatever you say!"
Such large razor clams would be incredibly delicious in a hot pot.
Unfortunately, they don't have the sesame sauce used in the copper hot pot dishes in Beijing.
Thinking of this, Fu Wan also regretted that she had bought a lot of things but forgot to buy some of the special seasonings unique to the capital.
"Wow, you've had a good haul!"
Ye Xiaocui spoke with a smile, her snakeskin bag was so full she could hardly lift it, so she came over specifically to get an empty bag.
Unexpectedly, upon arriving, they spotted a bucket of large blue crabs next to Fu Wan.
"Mom, mud crabs probably only cost a few cents a pound at the market. How about we take some of these mud crabs to Uncle's house and make them into a dish for his banquet?"
These mud crabs might not seem like a delicacy to people who are used to eating seafood. But in the mountains, they are a rare and precious delicacy.
Moreover, Qingshan Village is Ye Xiaocui's maternal home, and taking these things back would be a matter of face for Ye Xiaocui.
"Okay, you don't need to take it all over, one bucket will be enough."
A bucket of blue crabs weighs several dozen kilograms, plus some corn on the cob or something similar, enough to serve several tables.
Fu Wan nodded in agreement, then casually asked, "Mother, what did you find there?"
She saw Jiang Chunlan squatting there in the distance, her back to her, digging something with a small rake.
"Where we live, we have moon clams and sea cucumbers. Oh my, those sea cucumbers are so plump! I was even telling your aunt that we should make some sea cucumber dumplings sometime tomorrow!"
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