Introduction: In spring, after a winter of lying low, fish become active, feeding voraciously. They swim in schools over wide areas. At this time, fish are exceptionally plump and tender, and their nutritional value is very high. Eating fish during this season is a good choice. So, what kind of fish is the most nutritious for the dinner table?
1. Grass Carp – Warming the Middle and Tonifying Deficiency
Grass carp is a very common fish, easily found on dining tables. Although common, it is a health food that warms the stomach, pacifies the liver, expels wind, and tonifies the middle. In autumn, it's a good idea to buy and eat more grass carp, as it is an inexpensive yet beneficial food.
When eaten with tofu, grass carp can help regulate the middle and stomach, promote urination, and reduce swelling; it has special effects on the heart muscle and children's bone growth. It can be used as a dietary therapy for patients with coronary heart disease, high blood lipids, poor child development, edema, tuberculosis, and insufficient lactation after childbirth. When steamed with fried dough sticks, eggs, and pepper, it can benefit the eyes and improve vision, making it suitable for the elderly as a warming and fitness food. Additionally, the gallbladder of grass carp is toxic and cannot be eaten.
Braised Grass Carp with Fermented Black Beans
2. Silver Carp – Warming the Middle and Qi
Silver carp has functions such as warming the middle and Qi, warming the stomach, and moisturizing the skin. It is a health food that tonifies Qi by warming the middle. Silver carp can provide rich collagen protein, which can both build the body and beautify the skin, making it an ideal food for women to nourish their skin. It is effective for symptoms like rough skin, scaling, and brittle, easily falling hair, and is a delicacy that women should not overlook for beauty. It is suitable for the general population, but those with heat accumulation in the spleen and stomach should not eat it. Those with itchy skin diseases, internal heat, urticaria, or tinea should avoid it. Although it has skin-beautifying effects, people with sores or scabies should eat it in moderation.
3. Hairtail – Tonifying the Five Organs
Hairtail has the effects of warming the stomach, tonifying deficiency, moisturizing the skin, expelling wind, killing parasites, and tonifying the five organs. It is very helpful as an adjuvant treatment for acute and chronic hepatitis. It should be noted that hairtail itself has a strong fishy smell, so it is best to cook it by braising in soy sauce or with sweet and sour sauce. According to ancient and modern Chinese medical and aquatic medicinal books, hairtail has functions such as nourishing the liver, expelling wind, and stopping bleeding, and has a good effect on treating bleeding, sores, and carbuncles. The scales of hairtail are used as raw materials for making antipyretic and analgesic tablets and anti-tumor drugs. The scales contain a variety of unsaturated fatty acids, which have a significant effect in lowering cholesterol. It is suitable for people who have been ill for a long time, are weak, have dizziness due to blood deficiency, are short of breath, lack energy, have poor appetite, are emaciated, or are malnourished. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it can harmonize the stomach, whet the appetite, warm the stomach and tonify deficiency, and also has moisturizing effects.
Pickled Hairtail
4. Cuttlefish – Clearing the Stomach and Removing Heat
Cuttlefish, also known as squid, has effects such as nourishing the liver and kidneys, replenishing qi and blood, clearing the stomach and removing heat, nourishing blood, improving eyesight, regulating menstruation, calming the fetus, aiding childbirth, stopping bleeding, and promoting lactation. According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, cuttlefish is salty in taste and neutral in nature, and it enters the liver and kidney meridians; it has the effects of nourishing blood, regulating menstruation, promoting lactation, tonifying the spleen, benefiting the kidneys, nourishing yin, regulating menstruation, and stopping leukorrhea; it is used to treat women's irregular menstruation, edema, dampness bi, hemorrhoids, beriberi, etc. Both the meat and the bone of cuttlefish can be used as medicine. Li Shizhen called cuttlefish a "blood medicine" and a good medicine for treating women's anemia and blood deficiency amenorrhea.
People with deficiency and coldness in the spleen and stomach should eat less of it; patients with cardiovascular diseases such as high blood lipids, hypercholesterolemia, arteriosclerosis, and liver disease should be cautious about eating it; people with diseases such as eczema, urticaria, gout, kidney disease, diabetes, or who are prone to allergies should avoid it.
5. Carp – Strengthening the Spleen and Whetting the Appetite
Carp has effects such as strengthening the spleen and whetting the appetite, promoting urination and reducing swelling, relieving cough and asthma, calming the fetus and promoting lactation, and clearing heat and detoxifying. The protein in carp is not only high in content but also of high quality; the human body's digestion and absorption rate can reach 96%, and it can supply the human body with essential amino acids, minerals, vitamin A, and vitamin D; every 100g of meat contains 17.6g of protein, 4.1g of fat, 50mg of calcium, 204mg of phosphorus, and various vitamins. The fat in carp is mostly unsaturated fatty acids, which can effectively lower cholesterol and can prevent and treat arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease.
Delicious Carp Soup