The Spring Festival is here once again, and on the streets of Danzhou in Hainan, something smells fishy, literally. But this dizzying aroma is a sign of the impending festive seasion. Dried crimson snapper, which fetches a handsome price, is a delicacy enjoyed and given as a gift by the people of Danzhou during the Spring Festival.
Chen Ziyu, who has just returned to her parents home to see them for the festival, has selected a fine whole dried crimson snapper and picked up some streaky pork and vegetables at the local market. For her, this is a trip down memory lane: "People in Danzhou simply must have dried crimson snapper over Chinese New Year. Without it, it seems like something is missing."
Chen's family lives by and off the sea, and the family has been drying crimson snapper for four generations. Ziyu, who fell in love with the taste as a girl, decided to take after her parents, mastering the traditional sun-drying techniques that are listed as municipal-level intangible cultural heritage in Danzhou. So consummate has she become that she herself has been recognized as a representative inheritor of these techniques.
Ziyu explained that the the fisherfolk of Danzhou, who have sustained their families for generations fishing in the Beibu Gulf that lies between Hainan and Vietnam, are always on the lookout for those distinctive red ripples among their catch. The crimson snapper (Lutjanus erythropterus) is very big, very red, very meaty, and—as the people of Danzhou will attest—very delicious.
Once offloaded on shore, red crimson snappers are sliced open along the spine and spread open before being gutted and descaled. Salt is then rubbed and packed into the meat in grooves that have been sliced along the grain of the meat and left to sit for a while. The fish is then washed and hung in the sun to dry naturally. The stiff sea breeze and ample sunshine make quick work of the drying. The dried fish, which has taken on a dull sheen, has a mouthwatering aroma, taste, and texture, and is a delicacy unique to Danzhou.
For fisherfolk and consumers alike, the crimson snapper—colloquially called 红鱼 (hóng yú) in Chinese—represents great fortune (鸿运 hóng yùn), red and vibrant (红红火火 hóng hóng huǒhuǒ), and lifelong abundance (年年有余 nián nián yǒu yú). Locally, it is prepared in many equally delectable ways, from dried crimson snapper clay pot rice to dried crimson snapper and streaky pork braised in soy sauce, all of which highlight the fish's unique taste and aroma in different ways.
In 2018, Ziyu decided to capitalize on her craft. She set up a business selling beautifully packaged dried crimson snapper locally in Danzhou and online, shipping Danzhou's fortune and abundance across the Qiongzhou Strait to consumers' dinner tables thousands of kilometers away from the source.
