**Identification and Processing of Premium Dried Ingredients - Technician & Senior Technician Level**
**Specialty Dried Ingredients in Culinary Arts**
Specialty dried ingredients are a vital component of culinary materials. The term "specialty" refers to ingredients with distinct regional characteristics or those recognized as regional culinary icons with significant economic value. Due to preservation and transportation challenges, these ingredients are often dehydrated, forming unique dried products. They are commonly categorized into **animal-based** and **plant-based** dried ingredients.
### **Common Types**
1. **Animal-Based Dried Ingredients**:
- Abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, fish skin, fish bone, tendon, hasma (frog oviduct), dried shrimp, etc.
2. **Plant-Based Dried Ingredients**:
- Dried shiitake mushrooms, black fungus, cloud ear fungus, dried kelp, vermicelli, etc.
---
### **Principles and Methods of Drying**
Drying inhibits microbial growth and enzymatic decomposition by dehydrating fresh ingredients, tightening their texture, and preserving their original quality.
#### **Key Methods**:
1. **Sun-Drying**
- Uses sunlight to evaporate moisture. UV rays sterilize the ingredients naturally. Suitable for most materials.
2. **Air-Drying**
- Dehydration in cool, dry, ventilated areas. Ideal for small ingredients but requires strict dryness to avoid mold.
3. **Baking**
- Uses convection heat (ovens, infrared) for rapid dehydration. Suitable for all seasons and ingredients.
---
### **Premium Dried Ingredients**
#### **1. Fish Maw (Fish Maw)**
- A prized delicacy made from fish swim bladders. Varieties include:
- **Mao Chang Fish Maw**: Elliptical, yellow-red, thick-walled.
- **Red Fish Maw**: Heart-shaped with wavy patterns.
- **Min Fish Maw**: Spindle-shaped, translucent, golden-yellow.
- **Yellow Croaker Maw**: Thin slices or tubes; categorized by size and processing.
- **Eel Maw**: Cylindrical, horn-shaped, thin-walled.
#### **2. Fish Skin**
- Classified by thickness and fish species (e.g., shark, tiger shark, ray). High-quality ray skin is yellowish-brown.
#### **3. Fish Bone**
- Processed from shark cartilage, appearing as semi-translucent white/yellow strips or cubes.
#### **4. Sea Cucumber**
- Divided into **spiny** (e.g., gray spiny, plum blossom) and **smooth** (e.g., black sea cucumber). Spiny varieties are superior.
#### **5. Abalone**
- Graded by color and transparency: **purple** (best), **translucent yellow**, and **gray** (lowest quality).
#### **6. Tendons**
- Deer tendons are top-grade. Quality depends on dryness and transparency.
#### **7. Morel Mushrooms**
- Classified by color: black-veined, yellow, and pointed. Whole, closed caps are preferred.
#### **8. Bamboo Fungus**
- Cultivated varieties include long-skirt and short-skirt types. High-quality specimens are pale yellow with intact stems.
---
### **Quality Assessment**
1. **Origin**: Premium regions yield premium products (e.g., "Xiang" lotus seeds).
2. **Aroma**: Fresh, distinct odors indicate quality; off smells suggest spoilage.
3. **Dryness**: Moisture leads to mold. Check for white powder (e.g., squid) or discoloration.
4. **Uniformity**: Size and shape consistency reflects grading.
5. **Color & Purity**: Bright hues and absence of pests/impurities are critical.
---
### **Rehydration Techniques**
#### **1. Water-Based Rehydration**
- **Cold Water**: For fungi (e.g., wood ear).
- **Warm Water (50–60°C)**: Faster for winter use.
- **Hot Water**: Boiling/steaming for tough ingredients (e.g., sea cucumber).
- **Alkaline Solution**: Accelerates rehydration for collagen-rich items (e.g., squid).
#### **2. Oil-Based Expansion**
- **Low-Temperature Soaking**: 100–115°C oil to soften.
- **High-Temperature Expansion**: 180–200°C oil to puff.
- **Water Soaking**: Post-expansion hydration.
#### **3. Air-Puffing**
- Uses heat to vaporize bound water, creating a porous structure.
---
### **Skill Training Highlights**
1. **Abalone**: Select large, semi-translucent, fragrant specimens. Avoid chalky or uneven shapes.
2. **Sea Cucumber**: Prioritize thick-walled, plump varieties with intact spines. Check for marine scent.
3. **Fish Maw**: Look for translucency, uniform texture, and crisp sound when tapped.
4. **Morel Mushrooms**: Choose round-capped, intact, and earthy-smelling specimens.
5. **Bamboo Fungus**: Opt for pale yellow, resilient strands with a sweet aroma.
6. **Matsutake Mushrooms**: Verify origin (e.g., Shangri-La), aroma, and firmness. Avoid soggy or discolored pieces.
---
### **Rehydration Protocols**
- **Abalone**: 3-day soak, slow simmering in broth (48+ hours). Avoid iron cookware.
- **Sea Cucumber**: Multi-day water soaking or controlled boiling. Do not freeze post-rehydration.
- **Fish Maw**: Oil/water/alcohol methods based on thickness. Remove oil residue with mild alkali.
- **Morel Mushrooms**: 30-minute warm soak. Preserve soaking liquid for soups.
- **Bamboo Fungus**: Cold water or rice-wash soaking. Avoid heat to prevent tearing.
- **Matsutake**: Gentle brushing, 1-hour soak. Use broth for enhanced flavor.
**Note**: Always prioritize natural drying and avoid chemical additives. Store rehydrated ingredients at 1–2°C for freshness.
Identification and Processing of Premium Dried Ingredients - Technician & Senior Technician Level
-
Ho Kwok Leung
- Site Admin
- Posts: 362
- Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2024 10:56 pm
- Location: Hong Kong
-
Ho Kwok Leung
- Site Admin
- Posts: 362
- Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2024 10:56 pm
- Location: Hong Kong
Identification and Processing of Premium Dried Ingredients - Technician & Senior Technician Level
Characteristic dried raw materials are an important part of cooking ingredients.
The so-called characteristics mainly refer to the general term for cooking raw materials that have significant regional characteristics or have become the "business cards" of regional cooking ingredients and have certain economic value.
Due to the inconvenience of preservation and transportation, they are often dehydrated and dried, thus forming unique dried raw materials.
The common classification method is based on the nature of the raw materials, which is mainly divided into two categories: characteristic dried animal raw materials and characteristic dried plant raw materials.
Common characteristic dried animal raw materials include abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, fish skin, fish bone, tendon, forest frog oil, dried shrimp, etc.; characteristic dried plant raw materials mainly include dried shiitake mushrooms, dried black fungus, dried cloud ear fungus, dried kelp, vermicelli, etc.
The Concept of Characteristic Dried Raw Materials
The Drying Principle and Method of Dried Raw Materials
The drying principle of dried raw materials is based on the characteristics of microorganisms and decomposition enzymes. Dehydration methods are used for fresh raw materials to make their original fresh tissues tighten and the texture harden. This can effectively inhibit the growth and reproduction of microorganisms, reduce the decomposition ability of decomposition enzymes on the raw materials, and basically maintain the original quality and characteristics of the cooking raw materials.
Sun Drying
It is a natural drying method in which the raw materials are heated by the radiation of sunlight, the moisture evaporates, and the volume shrinks. It is also the simplest and most common drying method. It is suitable for the drying of various raw materials. While dehydrating and drying, it can also kill bacteria under the action of ultraviolet rays in the sunlight and play an anti-corrosion role.
Air Drying
Also known as air-drying, it is a dehydration method in which fresh raw materials are placed in a cool, ventilated, and dry place to slowly volatilize the moisture, reduce the volume, and harden the texture. It is suitable for small-sized fresh raw materials and must be carried out in a dry environment. Otherwise, it is very easy to be infected by bacteria and rot and deteriorate.
Baking
It is a dehydration method that uses the convective hot air generated by smoked boards, ovens, drying rooms, and far-infrared rays to quickly volatilize the moisture inside fresh raw materials. Since it is not restricted by time, climate, and season, it is suitable for the drying of various raw materials.
Types of Characteristic Dried Raw Materials
Fish maw (English: fish maw) also has other names such as fish belly, fish glue, fish bladder, and fish bubble. It is a large piece of white gelatinous substance refined from the fish bladders of large marine fish. It is one of the traditional precious foods in China and belongs to a type of dried seafood, that is, the "belly" in "abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw".
Maw of Miichthys miiuy / Maw of Miichthys miiuy / Fish Glue of Miichthys miiuy
It is made by drying the fish bladder of Miichthys miiuy.
It is oval-shaped, saddle-shaped, slightly blunt at both ends, with a thick body wall, light yellow color with a slight red tint, and a high expansion rate.
Red Fish Maw
It is made by drying the fish bladder of Nibea diacanthus. It is heart-shaped,片状, with obvious ripples, light yellow color with a slight pink tint.
Maw of Miichthys miiuy
Also known as Min fish maw, Miichthys miiuy maw, and Mi fish maw, it is made by drying the fish bladder of Miichthys miiuy. The appearance is spindle-shaped or sub-oval, with a round and pointed end. The convex surface has slightly bulging ripples, the surface is smooth, light yellow or with a light red tint, shiny, and transparent. The body shape is relatively large, generally 22~28 cm long, 17~20 cm wide, and 0.6~1 cm thick. It is mainly produced in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, and Hainan Province.
Yellow Croaker Maw
Also known as small fish maw, slice glue, tube glue, and long glue, it is made by drying the fish bladder of large yellow croaker. The appearance is oval-shaped, leaf-shaped, with a width about half of the length, and light yellow color. The yellow croaker maw has different names due to different processing methods. The one made by cutting the bladder tube of the fish bladder and then drying it is called "slice glue"; the one made by directly drying the bladder tube without cutting it is called "tube glue"; the large strip made by cutting several smaller bladders into long strips, pressing them, and then drying them is called "long glue". According to the appearance, the large yellow croaker also has different commodity names. Among them, the large and thick yellow croaker maw is called "lifting slice"; the small and thin yellow croaker maw is called "hanging slice", and the one made by pressing several small and thin yellow croaker maws together is called "stacking slice". The yellow croaker maw is mainly produced in Zhoushan and Wenzhou, Zhejiang, and Xiamen, Fujian, etc.
Eel Maw
Also known as eel belly and bladder belly, it is made by drying the fish bladder of conger eel or Japanese conger eel. The appearance is long and thin, cylindrical, pointed at both ends, in the shape of an ox horn, with a thin wall, and light yellow color. It is mainly produced in Zhoushan, Wenzhou, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Ningde, Fujian, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, Hainan Province, and other coastal areas.
Penholder Fish Maw
It is processed from the bladder of Leiocassis longirostris. It is irregular in shape, with a thick wall, and white in color. In the Hubei area, this fish maw is called penholder fish maw locally because its appearance is similar to "Penholder Mountain".
Leiocassis longirostris, also known as channel catfish, is called "catfish mouse" in Shanghai, "Jiangtuan" in Sichuan, and "Xi fish" in Guizhou. It is a unique precious freshwater economic fish in China. The channel catfish, together with the pufferfish, Chinese knife fish, and Chinese hilsa herring, are collectively known as the "Four Freshwater Delicacies of the Yangtze River". The most famous part is its fish bladder, which was once a tribute. After drying, it becomes a precious fish maw.
Fish Skin
According to the size of the skin and the thickness of the part, fish skin can be divided into the whole fish skin sun-dried and the part-by-part sun-dried. The larger ones can be divided into different pieces such as the back, abdomen, and lips and dried. The back skin is thick and green in color, called green skin; the abdominal skin is thin and white in color, called white skin. According to the type of fish, it can be divided into the following types:
Blue Shark Skin
It is processed from the skin of blue sharks, gray in color, and has a high yield.
Whitetip Reef Shark Skin
It is processed from the skin of various whitetip reef sharks, off-white in color, and has a high yield.
Basking Shark Skin
It is processed from the skin of basking sharks. The skin is relatively thick, with sharp spines and placoid scales, gray-black in color, and of relatively poor quality.
Tiger Shark Skin
It is processed from the skin of leopard sharks and striped tiger sharks. The skin surface is relatively large, yellow-brown in color, with dark brown spots, and the inside of the skin is blue-brown.
Guitarfish Skin
It is processed from the skin of guitarfish, yellow-brown in color, and is the best quality among all fish skins.
Giant Freshwater Stingray Skin
Also known as male fish skin, it is processed from the skin of giant freshwater stingrays. The characteristic is that the skin surface is large, about 70 cm long, gray-brown in color, the inside of the skin is white, and the skin surface has dense flat and granular bony scales.
Fish Bone
The common fish bone is processed from the cartilage of basking sharks, and there are two types: long and square. The long fish bone is a rectangular strip about 15 cm long, and the square fish bone is a flat square block with a side length of 2~3 cm, white or beige in color, and semi-transparent.
Sea Cucumber
Sea cucumbers belong to echinoderms. According to whether there are conical meat thorn-shaped papillae on the back of the sea cucumber, they are divided into spiny sea cucumbers and smooth sea cucumbers. Spiny sea cucumbers, also known as sea cucumbers with spines, have sharp meat spines on the body surface, such as gray sea cucumbers, pineapple sea cucumbers, and square sea cucumbers; smooth sea cucumbers, also known as sea cucumbers without spines, have smooth protruding meat spines or no meat warts on the surface, and the surface is smooth, such as giant black sea cucumbers and白尼参. Generally speaking, the quality of spiny sea cucumbers is better than that of smooth sea cucumbers. Among smooth sea cucumbers, the giant black sea cucumber has the best quality and can be comparable to the pineapple sea cucumbers and gray sea cucumbers among spiny sea cucumbers.
Abalone
At present, fresh frozen abalones, canned abalones, and dried abalones are sold on the market. For dried products, those that are dry, complete in shape, uniform in size, and large in size are good. Generally, it is divided into three commodity types: purple abalone, clear abalone, and gray abalone.
The purple abalone is large in size, purple in color, and of good quality.
The clear abalone is large in size, yellow and transparent in color, and of good quality.
The gray abalone is small in size, gray and dull in color, opaque, with white on the surface, and of poor quality.
Tendon
The tendons used in cooking include pig tendons, beef tendons, deer tendons, and sheep tendons, with deer tendons being of the best quality. The quality of dried tendons is best when they are dry, transparent, and white. Usually, the quality of the back tendons is better than that of the front tendons.
Morel Mushroom
Morel mushrooms can be divided into three branches according to the color of their fruiting bodies, namely black-veined morel mushrooms, yellow morel mushrooms, and pointed morel mushrooms.
Bamboo Fungus
Bamboo fungus is a kind of mushroom that was successfully artificially cultivated in China in the 1980s. The artificially cultivated varieties include several types such as Dictyophora indusiata, Dictyophora duplicata, Dictyophora rubrovolvata, and Dictyophora echinovolvata.
Quality Appraisal of Characteristic Dried Raw Materials
There are mainly three identification methods for cooking raw materials: sensory identification, physical and chemical identification, and biological identification. Among them, sensory identification is the main method, and physical and chemical identification and biological identification are less used in cooking practice. The so-called sensory identification is to make an objective evaluation of the quality of cooking raw materials by relying on the human body's own sensory organs, that is, to comprehensively identify and evaluate the color, aroma, taste, and appearance of cooking raw materials through methods such as looking with the eyes, smelling with the nose, listening with the ears, tasting with the mouth, and touching with the hands.
Sensory identification is one of the commonly used methods in the quality identification of cooking raw materials. The content of sensory identification mainly includes the identification of the color, variety, part, smell, maturity, and integrity of the raw materials, and distinguishing the quality of the raw materials from them.
The quality identification of dried raw materials is mostly judged according to the origin, smell, own shape, dryness, and other aspects of the raw materials. The common identification characteristics of many raw materials are as follows:
Identify and Understand the Origin and Source of Dried Materials
The dried materials from the famous production areas of high-quality fresh materials are correspondingly of high quality. For example, lotus seeds of "Xiang lotus" have the best quality; squid of "Zhai squid" from Nan'ao, Guangdong is the most famous; laver of "Peng vegetable" harvested from Nan'ao Island is of the best quality. Experienced purchasing personnel can judge the origin of most dried raw materials from the appearance.
Dried Materials Retain Their Unique Aroma
Most dried materials have their own original flavors. Animal, plant, fungal, and algal materials have different odors, with different intensities. However, freshness and deterioration, and even high-quality and low-quality products, can mostly be distinguished by smell.
Dried Materials are Dry and Free of Mold Marks
If the moisture content of dried products is high, there are two reasons: one is that they do not meet the requirements during the production of dried products, and the other is that they become soft and wet due to moisture absorption after drying. These two points are very likely to cause mold and deterioration. For example, once the squid is affected by moisture, the layer of white powder film on its body is very easy to fall off, and the quality decreases; if the dried products show mold marks and spots after moisture absorption, it indicates that they have begun to deteriorate; rotten ones indicate that they have completely deteriorated.
Dried Materials are Neat, Complete, and Uniform
Normal dried materials should have the characteristics of neat shape, complete appearance, and uniform individuals. Therefore, dried products are generally graded, and those with similar specifications and sizes are placed in the same grade. If the dried products are of different lengths and sizes, and mixed with good and bad ones, they are low-quality products.
Dried Materials Have a Bright Color and are Free of Insect Bites and Impurities
Most fresh products, after being timely and standardizedly made into dried materials, will maintain a certain bright color. If they are stored for too long, or not properly preserved, or affected by moisture, insect bites, and mildew, the color will change, lose the original luster, and become low-quality dried products. Even for dried materials of normal quality, if they are mixed with impurities, the quality will be reduced. For example, if the dried shrimps are mixed with head shells and crumbs, they are not top-grade products.
When identifying the quality of raw materials, attention should be paid to distinguishing the grades of the raw materials. The quality grade of raw materials is determined by factors such as their parts, origin, specifications, and processing methods. People should reasonably select products of different grades according to the requirements of the dishes.
When identifying the quality of dried raw materials, attention should be paid to distinguishing the genuine from the fake to prevent counterfeiters from using low-grade raw materials to pretend to be high-grade raw materials. When selecting, attention should also be paid to whether various illegal chemical additives are used in the production process of dried goods. If so, they should not be purchased.
Identification of the Quality of Abalone
From the perspective of size, the larger the individual abalone, the better the quality and the higher the price. Therefore, there is a habit of counting by the number (quantity) on the dining table. Two abalones per 500 grams are called two-head abalones. There is a saying in the market that "it is difficult to buy two-head abalones with money", and so on. The quality of superior dried abalones is dry, complete in shape, uniform in size, light yellow in color, semi-transparent, and slightly fragrant; if the color is gray and opaque, and there is a layer of white powder on the surface, the quality is poor.
High-quality abalones are beige or light brown in color, fresh and shiny in texture; the shape is oval, the abalone body is complete, the size is uniform, the dryness is sufficient, and there is a thin layer of salt powder on the surface. If the middle of the abalone is red under the light, it is even better; in terms of meat quality, high-quality abalones have thick, plump, and fresh meat.
Poor-quality abalones are gray, brownish purple in color, without luster, with dry and grayish white residual meat, a layer of grayish white substance attached to the body surface, and even black and green mold spots; the shape is incomplete, the edges are uneven, the individual sizes are uneven, and they are similar to the "horseshoe shape"; the meat is thin, dry on the outside and wet on the inside, neither sunken nor bulging.
Identification of the Quality of Sea Cucumbers
There are many types of sea cucumbers. When selecting sea cucumbers, those with a plump body shape, heavy quality, thin skin, thick meat wall, large expansion during water soaking, high expansion rate, soft, smooth, and elastic texture after water soaking, fine meat quality, and no calcareous bone pieces in the sea cucumber body are good; those with a thin body wall, small expansion during water soaking, and easy to become mushy in dishes are of poor quality.
(1) Smell the Odor If it has a light taste unique to seafood, it indicates that the quality of the sea cucumber is better; if it has a rotten smell, it indicates that the quality of the sea cucumber is poor or has deteriorated.
(2) Look at the Spine Roots If the spine roots of the sea cucumber are thick and short, it is a wild sea cucumber; if the spine roots are long and thin, it is a farmed sea cucumber.
(3) Expansion Rate The normal soaking expansion rate of dried sea cucumbers is about 8 times. The level of the expansion rate depends on the quality of the dried sea cucumbers.
(4) Look at the Appearance If there are salt particles on the surface of the sea cucumber and the overall color is grayish white, it is a salt-dried sea cucumber; conversely, if the overall color is black and shiny, it is a sugar-dried sea cucumber; the normal light-dried sea cucumbers are brown, dark brown, and yellow in color.
(5) Look at the Meat Quality The meat quality of wild sea cucumbers is relatively thick, elastic, and full in texture; while the meat quality of farmed sea cucumbers is relatively soft and not firm.
Identification of the Quality of Fish Maw
The quality of fish maw is good when the plate is large, the shape of the maw is flat and neat, thick and firm, uniform in thickness, yellow and clean
The so-called characteristics mainly refer to the general term for cooking raw materials that have significant regional characteristics or have become the "business cards" of regional cooking ingredients and have certain economic value.
Due to the inconvenience of preservation and transportation, they are often dehydrated and dried, thus forming unique dried raw materials.
The common classification method is based on the nature of the raw materials, which is mainly divided into two categories: characteristic dried animal raw materials and characteristic dried plant raw materials.
Common characteristic dried animal raw materials include abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, fish skin, fish bone, tendon, forest frog oil, dried shrimp, etc.; characteristic dried plant raw materials mainly include dried shiitake mushrooms, dried black fungus, dried cloud ear fungus, dried kelp, vermicelli, etc.
The Concept of Characteristic Dried Raw Materials
The Drying Principle and Method of Dried Raw Materials
The drying principle of dried raw materials is based on the characteristics of microorganisms and decomposition enzymes. Dehydration methods are used for fresh raw materials to make their original fresh tissues tighten and the texture harden. This can effectively inhibit the growth and reproduction of microorganisms, reduce the decomposition ability of decomposition enzymes on the raw materials, and basically maintain the original quality and characteristics of the cooking raw materials.
Sun Drying
It is a natural drying method in which the raw materials are heated by the radiation of sunlight, the moisture evaporates, and the volume shrinks. It is also the simplest and most common drying method. It is suitable for the drying of various raw materials. While dehydrating and drying, it can also kill bacteria under the action of ultraviolet rays in the sunlight and play an anti-corrosion role.
Air Drying
Also known as air-drying, it is a dehydration method in which fresh raw materials are placed in a cool, ventilated, and dry place to slowly volatilize the moisture, reduce the volume, and harden the texture. It is suitable for small-sized fresh raw materials and must be carried out in a dry environment. Otherwise, it is very easy to be infected by bacteria and rot and deteriorate.
Baking
It is a dehydration method that uses the convective hot air generated by smoked boards, ovens, drying rooms, and far-infrared rays to quickly volatilize the moisture inside fresh raw materials. Since it is not restricted by time, climate, and season, it is suitable for the drying of various raw materials.
Types of Characteristic Dried Raw Materials
Fish maw (English: fish maw) also has other names such as fish belly, fish glue, fish bladder, and fish bubble. It is a large piece of white gelatinous substance refined from the fish bladders of large marine fish. It is one of the traditional precious foods in China and belongs to a type of dried seafood, that is, the "belly" in "abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw".
Maw of Miichthys miiuy / Maw of Miichthys miiuy / Fish Glue of Miichthys miiuy
It is made by drying the fish bladder of Miichthys miiuy.
It is oval-shaped, saddle-shaped, slightly blunt at both ends, with a thick body wall, light yellow color with a slight red tint, and a high expansion rate.
Red Fish Maw
It is made by drying the fish bladder of Nibea diacanthus. It is heart-shaped,片状, with obvious ripples, light yellow color with a slight pink tint.
Maw of Miichthys miiuy
Also known as Min fish maw, Miichthys miiuy maw, and Mi fish maw, it is made by drying the fish bladder of Miichthys miiuy. The appearance is spindle-shaped or sub-oval, with a round and pointed end. The convex surface has slightly bulging ripples, the surface is smooth, light yellow or with a light red tint, shiny, and transparent. The body shape is relatively large, generally 22~28 cm long, 17~20 cm wide, and 0.6~1 cm thick. It is mainly produced in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, and Hainan Province.
Yellow Croaker Maw
Also known as small fish maw, slice glue, tube glue, and long glue, it is made by drying the fish bladder of large yellow croaker. The appearance is oval-shaped, leaf-shaped, with a width about half of the length, and light yellow color. The yellow croaker maw has different names due to different processing methods. The one made by cutting the bladder tube of the fish bladder and then drying it is called "slice glue"; the one made by directly drying the bladder tube without cutting it is called "tube glue"; the large strip made by cutting several smaller bladders into long strips, pressing them, and then drying them is called "long glue". According to the appearance, the large yellow croaker also has different commodity names. Among them, the large and thick yellow croaker maw is called "lifting slice"; the small and thin yellow croaker maw is called "hanging slice", and the one made by pressing several small and thin yellow croaker maws together is called "stacking slice". The yellow croaker maw is mainly produced in Zhoushan and Wenzhou, Zhejiang, and Xiamen, Fujian, etc.
Eel Maw
Also known as eel belly and bladder belly, it is made by drying the fish bladder of conger eel or Japanese conger eel. The appearance is long and thin, cylindrical, pointed at both ends, in the shape of an ox horn, with a thin wall, and light yellow color. It is mainly produced in Zhoushan, Wenzhou, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Ningde, Fujian, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, Hainan Province, and other coastal areas.
Penholder Fish Maw
It is processed from the bladder of Leiocassis longirostris. It is irregular in shape, with a thick wall, and white in color. In the Hubei area, this fish maw is called penholder fish maw locally because its appearance is similar to "Penholder Mountain".
Leiocassis longirostris, also known as channel catfish, is called "catfish mouse" in Shanghai, "Jiangtuan" in Sichuan, and "Xi fish" in Guizhou. It is a unique precious freshwater economic fish in China. The channel catfish, together with the pufferfish, Chinese knife fish, and Chinese hilsa herring, are collectively known as the "Four Freshwater Delicacies of the Yangtze River". The most famous part is its fish bladder, which was once a tribute. After drying, it becomes a precious fish maw.
Fish Skin
According to the size of the skin and the thickness of the part, fish skin can be divided into the whole fish skin sun-dried and the part-by-part sun-dried. The larger ones can be divided into different pieces such as the back, abdomen, and lips and dried. The back skin is thick and green in color, called green skin; the abdominal skin is thin and white in color, called white skin. According to the type of fish, it can be divided into the following types:
Blue Shark Skin
It is processed from the skin of blue sharks, gray in color, and has a high yield.
Whitetip Reef Shark Skin
It is processed from the skin of various whitetip reef sharks, off-white in color, and has a high yield.
Basking Shark Skin
It is processed from the skin of basking sharks. The skin is relatively thick, with sharp spines and placoid scales, gray-black in color, and of relatively poor quality.
Tiger Shark Skin
It is processed from the skin of leopard sharks and striped tiger sharks. The skin surface is relatively large, yellow-brown in color, with dark brown spots, and the inside of the skin is blue-brown.
Guitarfish Skin
It is processed from the skin of guitarfish, yellow-brown in color, and is the best quality among all fish skins.
Giant Freshwater Stingray Skin
Also known as male fish skin, it is processed from the skin of giant freshwater stingrays. The characteristic is that the skin surface is large, about 70 cm long, gray-brown in color, the inside of the skin is white, and the skin surface has dense flat and granular bony scales.
Fish Bone
The common fish bone is processed from the cartilage of basking sharks, and there are two types: long and square. The long fish bone is a rectangular strip about 15 cm long, and the square fish bone is a flat square block with a side length of 2~3 cm, white or beige in color, and semi-transparent.
Sea Cucumber
Sea cucumbers belong to echinoderms. According to whether there are conical meat thorn-shaped papillae on the back of the sea cucumber, they are divided into spiny sea cucumbers and smooth sea cucumbers. Spiny sea cucumbers, also known as sea cucumbers with spines, have sharp meat spines on the body surface, such as gray sea cucumbers, pineapple sea cucumbers, and square sea cucumbers; smooth sea cucumbers, also known as sea cucumbers without spines, have smooth protruding meat spines or no meat warts on the surface, and the surface is smooth, such as giant black sea cucumbers and白尼参. Generally speaking, the quality of spiny sea cucumbers is better than that of smooth sea cucumbers. Among smooth sea cucumbers, the giant black sea cucumber has the best quality and can be comparable to the pineapple sea cucumbers and gray sea cucumbers among spiny sea cucumbers.
Abalone
At present, fresh frozen abalones, canned abalones, and dried abalones are sold on the market. For dried products, those that are dry, complete in shape, uniform in size, and large in size are good. Generally, it is divided into three commodity types: purple abalone, clear abalone, and gray abalone.
The purple abalone is large in size, purple in color, and of good quality.
The clear abalone is large in size, yellow and transparent in color, and of good quality.
The gray abalone is small in size, gray and dull in color, opaque, with white on the surface, and of poor quality.
Tendon
The tendons used in cooking include pig tendons, beef tendons, deer tendons, and sheep tendons, with deer tendons being of the best quality. The quality of dried tendons is best when they are dry, transparent, and white. Usually, the quality of the back tendons is better than that of the front tendons.
Morel Mushroom
Morel mushrooms can be divided into three branches according to the color of their fruiting bodies, namely black-veined morel mushrooms, yellow morel mushrooms, and pointed morel mushrooms.
Bamboo Fungus
Bamboo fungus is a kind of mushroom that was successfully artificially cultivated in China in the 1980s. The artificially cultivated varieties include several types such as Dictyophora indusiata, Dictyophora duplicata, Dictyophora rubrovolvata, and Dictyophora echinovolvata.
Quality Appraisal of Characteristic Dried Raw Materials
There are mainly three identification methods for cooking raw materials: sensory identification, physical and chemical identification, and biological identification. Among them, sensory identification is the main method, and physical and chemical identification and biological identification are less used in cooking practice. The so-called sensory identification is to make an objective evaluation of the quality of cooking raw materials by relying on the human body's own sensory organs, that is, to comprehensively identify and evaluate the color, aroma, taste, and appearance of cooking raw materials through methods such as looking with the eyes, smelling with the nose, listening with the ears, tasting with the mouth, and touching with the hands.
Sensory identification is one of the commonly used methods in the quality identification of cooking raw materials. The content of sensory identification mainly includes the identification of the color, variety, part, smell, maturity, and integrity of the raw materials, and distinguishing the quality of the raw materials from them.
The quality identification of dried raw materials is mostly judged according to the origin, smell, own shape, dryness, and other aspects of the raw materials. The common identification characteristics of many raw materials are as follows:
Identify and Understand the Origin and Source of Dried Materials
The dried materials from the famous production areas of high-quality fresh materials are correspondingly of high quality. For example, lotus seeds of "Xiang lotus" have the best quality; squid of "Zhai squid" from Nan'ao, Guangdong is the most famous; laver of "Peng vegetable" harvested from Nan'ao Island is of the best quality. Experienced purchasing personnel can judge the origin of most dried raw materials from the appearance.
Dried Materials Retain Their Unique Aroma
Most dried materials have their own original flavors. Animal, plant, fungal, and algal materials have different odors, with different intensities. However, freshness and deterioration, and even high-quality and low-quality products, can mostly be distinguished by smell.
Dried Materials are Dry and Free of Mold Marks
If the moisture content of dried products is high, there are two reasons: one is that they do not meet the requirements during the production of dried products, and the other is that they become soft and wet due to moisture absorption after drying. These two points are very likely to cause mold and deterioration. For example, once the squid is affected by moisture, the layer of white powder film on its body is very easy to fall off, and the quality decreases; if the dried products show mold marks and spots after moisture absorption, it indicates that they have begun to deteriorate; rotten ones indicate that they have completely deteriorated.
Dried Materials are Neat, Complete, and Uniform
Normal dried materials should have the characteristics of neat shape, complete appearance, and uniform individuals. Therefore, dried products are generally graded, and those with similar specifications and sizes are placed in the same grade. If the dried products are of different lengths and sizes, and mixed with good and bad ones, they are low-quality products.
Dried Materials Have a Bright Color and are Free of Insect Bites and Impurities
Most fresh products, after being timely and standardizedly made into dried materials, will maintain a certain bright color. If they are stored for too long, or not properly preserved, or affected by moisture, insect bites, and mildew, the color will change, lose the original luster, and become low-quality dried products. Even for dried materials of normal quality, if they are mixed with impurities, the quality will be reduced. For example, if the dried shrimps are mixed with head shells and crumbs, they are not top-grade products.
When identifying the quality of raw materials, attention should be paid to distinguishing the grades of the raw materials. The quality grade of raw materials is determined by factors such as their parts, origin, specifications, and processing methods. People should reasonably select products of different grades according to the requirements of the dishes.
When identifying the quality of dried raw materials, attention should be paid to distinguishing the genuine from the fake to prevent counterfeiters from using low-grade raw materials to pretend to be high-grade raw materials. When selecting, attention should also be paid to whether various illegal chemical additives are used in the production process of dried goods. If so, they should not be purchased.
Identification of the Quality of Abalone
From the perspective of size, the larger the individual abalone, the better the quality and the higher the price. Therefore, there is a habit of counting by the number (quantity) on the dining table. Two abalones per 500 grams are called two-head abalones. There is a saying in the market that "it is difficult to buy two-head abalones with money", and so on. The quality of superior dried abalones is dry, complete in shape, uniform in size, light yellow in color, semi-transparent, and slightly fragrant; if the color is gray and opaque, and there is a layer of white powder on the surface, the quality is poor.
High-quality abalones are beige or light brown in color, fresh and shiny in texture; the shape is oval, the abalone body is complete, the size is uniform, the dryness is sufficient, and there is a thin layer of salt powder on the surface. If the middle of the abalone is red under the light, it is even better; in terms of meat quality, high-quality abalones have thick, plump, and fresh meat.
Poor-quality abalones are gray, brownish purple in color, without luster, with dry and grayish white residual meat, a layer of grayish white substance attached to the body surface, and even black and green mold spots; the shape is incomplete, the edges are uneven, the individual sizes are uneven, and they are similar to the "horseshoe shape"; the meat is thin, dry on the outside and wet on the inside, neither sunken nor bulging.
Identification of the Quality of Sea Cucumbers
There are many types of sea cucumbers. When selecting sea cucumbers, those with a plump body shape, heavy quality, thin skin, thick meat wall, large expansion during water soaking, high expansion rate, soft, smooth, and elastic texture after water soaking, fine meat quality, and no calcareous bone pieces in the sea cucumber body are good; those with a thin body wall, small expansion during water soaking, and easy to become mushy in dishes are of poor quality.
(1) Smell the Odor If it has a light taste unique to seafood, it indicates that the quality of the sea cucumber is better; if it has a rotten smell, it indicates that the quality of the sea cucumber is poor or has deteriorated.
(2) Look at the Spine Roots If the spine roots of the sea cucumber are thick and short, it is a wild sea cucumber; if the spine roots are long and thin, it is a farmed sea cucumber.
(3) Expansion Rate The normal soaking expansion rate of dried sea cucumbers is about 8 times. The level of the expansion rate depends on the quality of the dried sea cucumbers.
(4) Look at the Appearance If there are salt particles on the surface of the sea cucumber and the overall color is grayish white, it is a salt-dried sea cucumber; conversely, if the overall color is black and shiny, it is a sugar-dried sea cucumber; the normal light-dried sea cucumbers are brown, dark brown, and yellow in color.
(5) Look at the Meat Quality The meat quality of wild sea cucumbers is relatively thick, elastic, and full in texture; while the meat quality of farmed sea cucumbers is relatively soft and not firm.
Identification of the Quality of Fish Maw
The quality of fish maw is good when the plate is large, the shape of the maw is flat and neat, thick and firm, uniform in thickness, yellow and clean
