Grass Carp (草魚, 鯇魚)

What was this? The head of a fish, a grass carp to be exact. The lower jaw was removed. So the red, spiky gills were now visible.

Looking at it from the side, it was easier to see what it was.

Another grass carp split in half vertically and lengthwise, and then laid on its side. The mouth was quite visible on the right. The white balloon on the left was the fish maw (swim bladder, gas bladder, air bladder, 魚鰾, 魚肚) – its floating device. The fish ascends or descends by filling the bladder with gas (oxygen) or water.

Some people find it horribly disgusting. Actually it does not have to be so bloody. The blood was put on it on purpose to make it look fresher, supposedly. Actually it was fresh enough already. The heart, slightly off center to the right, was still beating. Rather fascinating, wasn’t it.

Come to think of it. Since it was destined to be food anyway, stunning it with a blow to the head and then cutting it up quickly was probably as humane as it could be. In the mean time, one might as well marvel at the beauty of its anatomy.