There were many children on the boat today, so Chen Hong peeled a pineapple, cut it in half, and made sweet and sour pork with pineapple.
Just as I was about to fry another cod, I heard my dad shout loudly, "Xiao Hong, come quick! I caught a big eel, help me scoop it up!"
"This fish is too big! It keeps spinning around, I just can't pull it up!"
Wow! That's quite a big one!
When Chen Hong ran closer, she saw that the eel was about the thickness of an adult's arm, with a silvery-white body tinged with a golden yellow, and it was coiled up and spinning on the fishing line.
"Quick, quick, I can't hold on much longer, I'm afraid the line will break! Xiaohong, lower the net!" Dad shouted anxiously, having already pulled the eel out of the water, he was terrified that the eel would escape at the last moment.
"Here it comes, here it comes! Oh my, Dad, you're still got it! You've got such a big truck on board!"
Wow, my dad's amazing! He caught a huge eel on his first catch. Our braised eel is sorted for lunch today!
Chen Hong swiftly scooped up the net, aiming it at the eel's head, and the net swept down in an instant.
"Alright, you're in now, you can't escape!"
After scooping the eel onto the deck, Chen Hong swiftly chopped off its head with a swift stroke of his knife.
The conger eel in the East China Sea has a short, fleshy head and a round, plump body; at first glance, it looks like a small python. Conger eels belong to the genus *Hylocereus* of the family Anguillidae. They are fast swimmers and have a fierce temperament.
They typically inhabit seabeds at depths of 50 to 80 meters, in muddy or rocky areas.
Carnivorous, they primarily feed on shrimp, crab, fish, squid, and octopus. Their spawning season in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea is from July to November.
The common way to eat Jiaodong eel is to dry it into dried eel, which can then be steamed or pan-fried.
Eels also have a swim bladder inside their bellies, called eel roe. This stuff is delicious and nutritious when stewed, and it is especially popular.
Conger eels have tender and delicious flesh, high nutritional value, and are rich in protein and various vitamins, earning them the nickname "soft gold of the sea."
People in Japan and South Korea, in particular, have a high regard for moray eels.
They are very fond of all kinds of dishes, including authentic eel sashimi, tender and juicy grilled eel, fragrant and tender eel rice, and sweet and chewy grilled sea eel.
Grabbing the eel by the head, Chen Hong showed it to her father, "Dad, if you catch an eel in the future, never use your hands to remove the hook."
Either cut the fishing line or kill the moray eel. Look how sharp the moray eel's teeth are!
This fish is ferocious; if you're not careful, it can even bite off your finger.
After saying that, she carefully pinched the fish head, removed the hook, and handed it to her father.
"If you cut the line, won't the fishing rod stay in the eel's mouth? If it swallows it, wouldn't it be dangerous to cook it?"
"What if it gets eaten? Wouldn't that cause a major disaster?" Chen Hong's father asked.
Chen Hong quickly picked up the eel from the deck. "Dad, any decent chef knows that wild sea eels caught by sea fishing are usually caught by cutting the fishing line."
Even ordinary local people carefully clean the fish gills and internal organs before cooking.
How blind do you have to be to not see such a big fishhook?
The fishhooks are removed during the fish preparation process, ensuring that diners will never accidentally swallow them.
After cleaning the eels, Chen Hong filled a bucket with seawater, washed the fish clean, and then used the remaining seawater to rinse the bloodstains off the deck.
They throw the fish's intestines and entrails into the sea, giving them a treat for the sea creatures.
"Alright, I'm going back to cook. You can continue fishing!"
Dad, if you see a fish you don't recognize, please don't touch it with your hands. Some fish have poisonous fins, so be careful! Don't take off your gloves.
Dad re-baited the hook, swung it forcefully into the sea, and said to his daughter without turning his head:
"Alright, I know! It's not like it's my first time fishing. I recognized almost all the fish in the sea last year."
"Go cook! The children are hungry and waiting for their meal!"
The old man got upset because we disturbed his fishing! The eldest daughter kept nagging and nagging, scaring the fish away from biting!
Twenty minutes later, the braised eel was ready, and the food was served. It was time to eat.
Chen Hong's father caught another black sea bream, but it wasn't big, weighing less than two pounds. The old man was quite resentful.
"When I was playing the fish, I thought it was a big fish. Judging from the feel, it should weigh six or seven pounds."
To my surprise, when I took it out of the water, it weighed less than two pounds, just enough for one dish.
"One pound of fish is worth ten pounds of strength; sea fish are much stronger than freshwater fish."
That's already pretty good. You've only been fishing for a short time, and you've already caught two fish. You're not missing a single cast.
Dad, try this braised sea eel. It goes straight into the pot after it's cooked, and it tastes incredibly delicious.
This fish is huge! The pot on the boat is small; it almost didn't fit in the whole pot!
It seems like eating out is more enjoyable. There were three adults and three children, and four dishes and a soup, and they finished everything on their plates.
The braised eel dish alone was a huge pot, with a seven-pound eel stewed in one pot by Chen Hong, which was more than enough for the other three dishes.
The whole family ate it all without even realizing it!
After lunch, Erni felt sleepy. "This child, she eats and then sleeps, is she a pig reincarnated?!"
While nagging, Chen Hong's mother carried the child to the bedroom, put the child on the bed, covered him with a blanket, and then asked Chen Hong to take them to the island for a visit.
"Yu Yang said that some islands have plenty of good things, all kinds of shellfish, oysters, and big crabs, you can't pick them all up."
The old lady found the tools for beachcombing and called to Yu Yang and Da Ni that they were about to go to the island.
Chen Hong carried two long planks from the boat to the reef, went ashore first, and then helped the mother and her two children over one by one.
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