Fish Maw Lesson

My wife and I got a useful lesson on fish maw today, from the proprietors of a whole sale seafood store in Sai Ying Pun. 

First lesson: 花膠 and 魚肚 are basically the same thing.  It is, of course, dried air bladders from fishes.  Fishes is correct since the maw can come from a great variety of types of fish.  The cost of a piece of fish maw can vary greatly depending on which type of fish it comes from.  

They can come in the shape of a tube.  Generally the bigger and thicker ones are better. 

They can also be cut open and flattened.  It is said that generally only thicker ones can be cut open and still look good.  

All of these are quite expensive, costing many hundreds of Hong Kong dollars per catty.  

One of the best quality for money is this product from Uganda, perhaps from a fish that lives in Lake Victoria.  It is a huge body of water.  Very impressive when I flew over it on the way from Uganda to Rwanda.  The shape of this maw is not as neat and uniform as the more expensive ones, but the quality is actually quite good - according to the proprietor.  

But 沙爆魚肚 is something quite different.  It is fish maw stir-fried in sand.  It looks like  沙爆豬皮 (pig skin).  They are generally less expensive. 

Then there is the fish maw that is used in dim sum. This is probably the least expensive version.  Not whole pieces of fish maw.  But rather bits and pieces from unidentified, mixed types of fish.  It comes in big sacks, to be delivered to restaurants.    

This is perhaps the lowest grade of fish maw.  But the dim sum still tastes very good.  

All in all, a half day well spent in Sai Ying Pun.