兰江刀鱼

三川

要说兰江刀鱼，先听一则“旧闻”。

某天清晨，兰溪老渔民杨清松在三江口一带捕鱼，一网下去捞上3条小鱼。这鱼体形修长，臀鳍稀薄，银光闪烁。杨清松看着眼熟，却一时叫不出名来。出于职业敏感，他把小鱼拍了照，上岸征询水产专家，这才解开心中疑团，逢人便说：刀鱼回来了！

这一利好消息，发生在2020年9月。几个月后，《浙江日报》记者偶尔听闻，掂出其中的新闻价值，于2021年1月3日在头版作了大篇幅追踪报道。

水清鱼归，并非偶然。因为浙江的“五水共治”发轫于2013年11月，如今兰江水域重现刀鱼，不单单验证了近8年来的治水成效，更传递出整个钱塘江流域水系生态改善的强烈信号。

只是，新闻易逝又易碎，有多少读者关心关注兰江刀鱼的回归呢？

那天，有同事忽然问我：吃过刀鱼吗？我说，余生亦晚，又世居大山深处，哪有这等口福。

不过，我虽没见过刀鱼真身，却吃过商店里卖的凤尾鱼罐头，印在商标上的凤尾鱼跟刀鱼极其相似。

凤尾鱼多产于上海崇明与宝山一带，捕捞盛期在5月中旬到6月底。鱼长三寸，满腹鱼籽。油锅煎炸，香酥可口。而刀鱼，虽说和凤尾鱼是近亲，却因生长水域不同，无论是滋味还是身价，皆不可同日而语。报载，十多年前，倘在南京的星级酒店宴客，3条刀鱼凑足0.5公斤，清蒸上桌，时价破万。

“扬子江头雪作涛，纤鳞泼泼形如刀。”（清 · 清端）刀鱼属洄游性鱼类，桃花流水时节，春江水暖，成群的刀鱼接受江南烟雨之邀请，从咸淡交汇处出发，泼剌剌地逆流而上，找寻产卵家园，夏秋季又陆续回到大海……

兰江是钱塘江的重要支流，上承婺江、衢江，下连黄公望描摹过的富春江，虽不属长江水系，却拥有一个共同家园——东海。所以，兰江刀鱼与长江刀鱼，仅有一字之差，实为同一品种。

只可惜，刀鱼对洄游线路的环境异常敏感，早在三四十年前虽由于污染和屡禁不止的江底挖砂，兰江水域就渐渐难覓刀鱼踪影了。

“清明挂刀，端午品鲥。”刀鱼，清人称其为“春馔第一鲜品”，在长江三鲜（鲥时、刀鱼、鮰鱼）中，最先吃到的便是刀鱼，但有个时令界限，即最好在清明前捕食，其时肉嫩刺软，过了清明便称“老刀”，鳞刺会逐渐硬化，除了吃时会卡喉外，鲜味也逊色不少。所以，吴地有“刀不过清明”之说。

据说，清洗刀鱼，甭开膛剖肚，拿根筷子从鱼鳃处伸进一搅，卷出鱼肠，鱼的身形仍然完整。料理如此简单，非实际操持者不能言。

依我的餐厨经验，江鲜的烹法不外红烧、清蒸和油炸。然而，翻了翻资料，才知刀鱼做法真是多得去了。譬如，集清代中期厨师经验之大成的《调鼎集》，便载有刀鱼圆、炸刀鱼、炙刀鱼、刀鱼汤、刀鱼豆腐等十多种。

袁枚喜欢清蒸刀鱼：“用蜜酒酿、清酱放盘中，如鲥鱼法蒸之最佳。”又说：“金陵人畏其多刺，竟油炙极枯，然后煎之。谚曰：‘驼背夹直，其人不活。此之谓也。”（《随园食单》）想来，袁才子在录写这一条时心里一定不太痛快。要不然，他不会把民间谚语列于其后。

清人倪绳中在《南汇竹枝词》中写道：“春三刀鲚炖鲜汤，不用煎熬异品尝。一种作饼宜捣烂，拌和菜韭味鲜香。”炖汤要放猪油，鱼肉饼要搭咸菜或春韭。

著名作家汪曾祺“满口噙香中国味”，他的美食散文玲珑剔透，人见人爱。他说，金圣叹曾以为刀鱼刺多是人生恨事之一。不会吃刀鱼的人是很容易卡到嗓子的。镇江人把刀鱼煮至稀烂，用纱布滤去细刺，做汤，下面，即谓“刀鱼面”，很美。

味美的江鲜，大多刺多。鲥鱼、刀鱼是这样，就连淡水中的白条、翘嘴、黄尾巴亦不例外。刀鱼刺多，许多北方人便不敢享用，但又禁不住那细腻口感之诱惑，便生发张爱玲式的“恨意”。

刺多，确是刀鱼“缺点”。然而，唯其刺多，才更成就其鲜美。倘若无刺，那鲜嫩无比的鱼肉囫囵吞下，几乎不可能细品其味。正因为那些软刺，鱼肉在味蕾上才有回旋的余地，一舔一抿间，其味之鲜也就倍觉悠长。

吃鱼让人安静。但说来说去，皆为吴地食法。越地兰溪曾有“一江渔火，十里歌声”之辉煌，普通市民又是怎么烹食刀鱼的呢？

陈金法在兰江讨食已有40余年，是当地为数不多的老渔民之一，说起刀鱼简直如数家珍。他告诉我们，上世纪五六十年代，兰江刀鱼主要集中在女儿滩下游，捕捞时间大多在清明前后。每条大约20来公分长，大点的四两左右。刀鱼肉质鲜嫩，刺多却很软，即便给小孩吃，也不致卡喉。至于烧法，城里人喜欢清蒸，而渔民因为起居不便，只能因陋就简，放镬里煮煮，酱油蘸了吃。焖饭时，有的农户喜欢将刀鱼直接摊在米饭上烀烀。饭熟揭盖，取筷搛住鱼头抖一抖，那鱼肉便会自然滑落，真情演绎一锅幸福满满的江南“鱼米之香”。

吴风越俗，山连水依。兰溪先贤李渔颇懂刀鱼，想必没有少吃。他说，食别的鱼都有厌时，唯有刀鱼是“愈嚼愈甘，至果腹而不能释乎”。

The Lanjiang River Tapertail Anchovy

By  San Chuan

Before talking about the Lanjiang river tapertail anchovy in depth， lets hear an old story first.

One day very early in the morning， Yang Qingsong， an old fisherman in Lanxi， was fishing in the estuary of the Wujiang River， the Qujiang River and the Lanjiang River and caught three small fish in one net. The fish were long and slender， with thin anal fins and a silvery glint. They looked familiar to Yang， who just could not name them right away. Out of professional sensitivity， he took a picture of the fish， with which he then consulted an aquatic expert. The mystery was solved： the tapertail anchovy was back！

This piece of inspiring news was reported in September 2020. A few months later， a reporter from Zhejiang Daily accidently heard about it， sensed its value and wrote a long follow-up report for the front page of Zhejiang Daily on January 3， 2021.

Yet the return of tapertail anchovy into the clear water of the Lanjiang River is nothing accidental. Thanks to Zhejiangs “Five Water Governance Plan” initiated in November 2013， the provinces water governance has been effectively improved since eight years ago， so has been the water ecology of the entire Qiantang River basin.

But how many readers will continue to actually care about the return of the tapertail anchovy， after the news quickly faded away？

The other day， a colleague suddenly asked me： “Have you ever eaten tapertail anchovy？” “I just dont have the luck，” I answered. I have never seen a real tapertail anchovy， but I ate canned anchovies sold in stores before， and the anchovy printed on the trademark looked very similar to tapertail anchovy.

Anchovies are mostly produced in Chongming and Baoshan of Shanghai， and are caught between mid-May and the end of June. The fish is about four inches long and full of roe， crispy and delicious when fried with oil. And for tapertail anchovy， although it is a close relative to anchovy， the former tastes better and costs much higher because the two kinds of fish live in different waters.

The Lanjiang River is an important tributary of the Qiantang River， connecting with the Wujiang River and the Qujiang River at the upstream， and the Fuchun River at the downstream. Although not a part of the Yangtze River system， it entually flows into the East China Sea as well. Therefore， the Lanjiang river tapertail anchovy and the Yangtze River tapertail anchovy are of the same species.

Unfortunately， tapertail anchovy is very sensitive to the environment of the migratory route. As early as 30 or 40 years ago， due to the pollution and repeated dredging of the bottom sand， it has been increasingly difficult to find tapertail anchovy in the Lanjiang river.

The fish was highly valued and praised by people of the Qing dynasty （1616-1911） as “the most delicious dish of spring”， and it is quite seasonal — usually caught before the Qingming Festival， its texture is extremely tender and the bones soft， but after that the texture and the bones will become harder， hence less tasty.

To clean a tapertail anchovy， you dont have to cut open its belly but only need to stick a chopstick through one of its gills and roll out the intestines， leaving the fish intact. It seems an easy preparation — if you can actually nail it.

According to my cooking experience， there are only a few ways to cook tapertail anchovy， such as braising with soy sauce， steaming and deep-frying. But after browsing through relevant literature， I realize that there are so many other ways out there. For example， Yuan Mei （1716-1798）， a famous Qing poet， loved to eat steamed tapertail anchovy. Ni Shengzhong （1845-1919）， another Qing poet， recommended to use tapertail anchovy meat for filling fish meat pies. Wang Zengqi （1920-1997）， a well-known contemporary Chinese writer， suggested that tapertail anchovy could be fully stewed to make fish soup noodles.

Unfortunately， most tasty river fishes have a lot of bones， which is especially true with tapertail anchovy. Its intimidating number of bones almost makes northerners （who are not used to eating bony river fish） hesitate before they finally decide to have a try — after all， the extremely tender texture is so irresistible.

Being bony is perhaps one of the unappealing features of tapertail anchovy， but it is exactly the same feature that makes its meat taste all the more delicious. If there are no bones， the tender meat will be swallowed without being chewed thoroughly， and that makes it almost impossible for people to fully savor what the meat exactly tastes like. Thanks to those soft bones， people have to slow down to lick and sip， enjoying the tender texture and the lingering flavor with their taste buds.

How do Lanxi folks cook tapertail anchovy？ Chen Jinfa， who has been fishing in the Lanjiang River for more than 40 years， told us that in the 1950s and 1960s， tapertail anchovy in the Lanjiang river were mainly concentrated in the lower reaches of the mud flat， and the fishing time was around the Qingming Festival. Tapertail anchovy meat is tender in texture with a lot bones that are soft enough to avoid being stuck in even a childs throat. As for the cooking method， city people like to steam it， while fishermen tend to keep it simple by putting it to boil， and dipping it in soy sauce after it is done. Some people prefer to spread pieces of tapertail anchovy meat on top of the rice to be cooked together. When the rice is cooked， the fish will also be cooked to the point that its meat just falls off the bones naturally， giving off a nice aroma — that is one potful of happiness.

Li Yu （1611-1680）， the sage of Lanxi， knew well about the Lanjiang River tapertail anchovy and certainly must have eaten many. According to him， you could grow tired of eating other fishes， but tapertail anchovy is the only kind of fish that “the more you chew， the more sweetness you will taste and you just cant stop eating until there is absolutely no room in your stomach.”