From monogamy to marinade, the taste of the love fish

Ancient Chinese people would never have dreamed of eating flounder 左口魚 (zuǒkǒuyú, left-mouth fish). For one, the flounder was believed to be a symbol of devoted lovers. In modern Chinese cuisine, however, flounder is common and is well known for its high nutritional value.

The flounder is known by different names in different parts of China. In the north, it's called 偏口魚 (piānkǒuyú, one sided-mouth fish). Guangzhou natives, renowned experts in the art of seafood, call it the "left-mouth fish" instead. Some call the flounder by its more archaic namesake: 比目魚 (bǐmùyú, fish with eyes close together).

Obviously, these names all come from the flounder's unusual look, and it was this appearance that led to the inspiration for its associated romantic fantasies. As a flat fish, the flounder swims horizontally, with both its eyes on the same side. The ancient Chinese assumed it would be difficult for the flounder to swim alone because it seems like only half a fish. As such, they believed that the flounder needed a lifetime partner in order to navigate its way through the inky darkness of the deep.

When describing the fish, the earliest dictionary, Erya (《爾雅》, Approaching the Correct) from the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), stated: "In the east sea, there is a fish whose eyes are close together. It can not swim unless in pairs, and its name is die". Thus, flounders became associated with loyal couples and became a symbol representing the idiom "比目連枝"(bǐmù liánzhī, flounders and twinned branches, representing devoted couples).

The Tang dynasty (AD 618-907) poet Lu Zhaolin (盧照鄰) used the flounder metaphor to describe a perfect romance: "I am dying to be with my beloved like a flounder; I would rather live a happy life with my lover like a pair of yuanyang birds than to envy the immortals" (得成比目何辭死, 愿作鴛鴦不羨仙。Dé chéng bǐmù hécísǐ, yuàn zuò yuānyāng búxiàn xiān). There is even a Chinese opera called《比目魚》about two star-crossed lovers in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) by literary master Li Yu (李漁).

In the ancient world, the lack of knowledge led to the imagination and mythology of the perfect flounder couple. Flounder can currently be found in the north of the Yellow Sea (黃海 Huánghǎi) and Bohai (渤海), China's continental sea. It is said that the best flounder comes from Qinhuangdao (秦皇島), a coastal city on Hebei province. Nowadays, the flounder is no longer a rare dish on Chinese tables. As an essential ingredient in Cantonese cuisine (粵菜yuècài), the dried flounder is called 大地魚 (dàdìyú, earth fish). Boiled with pork bones, it adds delicate flavors (鮮味 xiānwèi) to various soups, including the famous wonton noodle soup (云吞面 yúntūnmiàn).

For this dish, we will fry the marinated flounder in flour, which, according to our guest chef Wu Xianfei (吳賢飛) from Beijing's Green T. House, is a Chinese neoclassic (新古典主義 xīngǔdiǎn zhǔyì) dish with modern flavors.

Courtesy of The World of Chinese,

www.theworldofchinese.com

The World of Chinese

(China Daily 04/05/2013 page17)