Food: Starting with Wonton Noodles

"Of course there were no modern farmed shrimp in the early 20th century, but did the prawn only come into existence because of modern farming technology?" Zhou Yu countered.

His words stumped Ah Sheng.

Yes, before the introduction of foreign aquaculture technology in the 1980s, before the introduction of the Litopenaeus vannamei species.

Haven't prawns already existed in this world for a long time?

"The statement 'prawns are farmed shrimp' is the most successful scam by seafood vendors in the 21st century."

Zhou Yu continued, "We're all from the coast. When have you ever seen a whiteleg shrimp raised in a traditional pond?"

Actually, the "jiwei" in "jiwei shrimp" refers to the traditional dikes and seawalls in the Lingnan region.

Even before shrimp larvae existed, people had already discovered that shrimp swarms would migrate towards the nearshore waters with the changing seasons and tides.

So people at that time dug earthen mounds at the seaside and river mouths to raise migrating shrimp larvae by using the tides.

In an era devoid of modernization, fishermen could only rely on enclosing ponds to divert water.

They don't need to be fed; you just need to drain the water and catch them with a net when the time comes.

Therefore, it is still almost entirely a purely wild-caught farming method.

Because such fishponds enclosed by the sea are called "jiwei," the shrimp brought in by the tides were named "jiwei shrimp."

In the 1980s, China began to introduce various aquaculture technologies, as well as the more advantageous and easier-to-raise shrimp species, the Pacific white shrimp.

Fishermen gradually abandoned the traditional practice of raising shrimp in enclosed ponds, and the true prawn disappeared from the historical stage.

After explaining to Ah Sheng, Zhou Yu smiled and said to Liang Ding, "Brother Ding, what kind of shrimp do you think Wen Yuan and his team would buy back then?"

Before Liang Ding could answer, he continued:

"Back then, both fishing and aquaculture techniques were extremely backward. The only things we could buy were river shrimp from the river, a few kinds of large shrimp caught at sea, and the traditional pond-raised prawns."

"Not to mention the difficulty of keeping wild-caught shrimp fresh in winter, half of them die when they are caught in the water. By the time they are transported to the restaurant for processing, at least half of their freshness will be lost. If they are then made into shrimp paste, wouldn't they become even more fishy?"

"I guess you used live flower shrimp, mandarin shrimp, and king prawns to recreate this dish before, and you were very confident that you were using fresher shrimp than your predecessors, and that it would definitely taste better than what they had done before."

"As it turned out, although the taste was good, it just felt a little lacking, not as amazing as the legends said."

At this moment, Zhang Rong sat back down, having been moved by Zhou Yu's words.

Compared to Liang Ding, he felt Zhou Yu's words more deeply, because when he was an apprentice in Beiyuan, he had heard his master's regret countless times about not being able to replicate the Jiangnan Hundred Flower Chicken.

Zhang Rong was already 50-60% convinced by Zhou Yu's words, but he still stubbornly insisted:

"Indeed, the real tiger prawn is not the farmed whiteleg shrimp we see today, but are you sure you can successfully replicate it by using traditional tiger prawns?"

Zhou Yu did not answer him, but instead said to Liang Ding, "Master Ding, would it be convenient to borrow the kitchen again? I happen to know how to make Jiangnan Hundred Flower Chicken, so I can add a dish to everyone's lunch."

After Liang Ding agreed, Zhou Yu asked Lin Wenhui, "Could you send over some shrimp?"

Lin Wenhui said, "No problem, there are still plenty available this season. I'll have my dad make a trip to deliver them."

After saying that, he gestured to everyone to leave for a moment, then got up to make a phone call.

While waiting for Lin Wenhui's father to bring over the shrimp, everyone remained relatively silent.

Asheng couldn't contain his curiosity and continued to press Zhou Yu about what exactly the traditional "jiwei shrimp" was.

"The traditional prawn is not a type of shrimp," Zhou Yu explained.

"In the past, fishermen only knew how to build ponds and divert water, and they couldn't distinguish the types of shrimp. Otherwise, they wouldn't have named it 'Keeping Shrimp' directly."

"There are several kinds of shrimp here, mainly the new tiger prawn, the closely related new tiger prawn, the white-tailed tiger prawn, and possibly some long-haired tiger prawns."

"These are what people commonly refer to as sand shrimp, white shrimp, bamboo shrimp, and king prawn."

"Don't they also have bamboo shrimp and tiger prawns?"

Ah Sheng was a little confused by Zhou Yu. He had just heard Zhang Rong mention it and had even tried bamboo shrimp and prawns.

"The bamboo shrimp and tiger prawns we usually use are different from the bamboo shrimp and tiger prawns used in prawn farming."

Before Zhou Yu could answer, Zhang Rong unusually offered an explanation for him:

"The bamboo shrimp and wild king prawns that restaurants usually purchase, whether for high-end or celebratory purposes, are generally around ten in size, or even three in size. Therefore, they can only be caught in relatively distant waters, and fresh ones are rare."

(Ten heads, three heads, meaning the quantity of one jin)

"Traditional prawns are farmed or caught in near-shore waters. Even those that were farmed in the past were only about 30 in size, so most restaurants no longer purchase them."

"Moreover, the prawns are mainly sand prawns, with bamboo prawns and tiger prawns making up a very small proportion."

He then turned to Zhou Yu and said, "Zhou Sheng, although no one has ever tried to make Jiangnan Hundred Flower Chicken with prawns before, and I acknowledge that traditional prawns are a good type of prawn, I still can't understand why only he can make Jiangnan Hundred Flower Chicken well."

After sitting down again, Zhang Rong gradually calmed down and was no longer as aggressive as before.

"Because of salinity, and also size."

Zhou Yu silently opened the wish task list, clicked to accept Liang Ding's wish task, and then accepted the reward for Lin Wenhui's wish task.

By this time, the two children, having finished their dessert and finding the previous conversation too boring, had already run back to the stage in the hall to play.

Zhou Yu took out the Baisha cigarettes that Lin Wenhui had "gifted" him from his pocket and handed one to each person present.

After everyone started puffing away, he tossed the remaining half-pack of Baisha cigarettes to Lin Wenhui and said, "Wenhui, you should know the difference, right?"

Lin Wenhui nodded: "Yes, even for the same species, seafood from nearshore and seafood from the open sea taste completely different."

"Our experience as fishermen is that the closer to the coast, the lower the salinity of the seawater, and the fresher and tastier the seafood will be. Of course, it doesn't mean it's as fresh as water. We don't know the specific salinity that makes it taste the best."

"But we have a general idea of ​​which sea areas have better seafood. Mr. Ding, although our prices are higher than the market average, didn't you choose to cooperate with us because the seafood we provide is generally of better and more consistent quality?"

"Actually, we don't have any special secrets. It's just that we're more stubborn. We only choose seafood from fishing boats in a few sea areas with better water quality and suitable salinity, and we only serve high-standard restaurants like Shunyilou."

"It's not that others don't know this secret, it's just that fishing in any sea area will result in a larger catch."

......

Note: Relevant studies have verified that the fatty acid, collagen content, muscle fiber diameter and flexural strength of the same species vary significantly in water with different salinity levels. These elements directly affect the flavor and texture of seafood.