Dried Sea Cucumber
Not quite a fish; more of an etcetera are the 海参 (hǎi shēn) or Sea Cucumbers. These echinoderms are members of the Holothuroidea family which runs to 1,707 species, although only a fraction of these are commercially fished for food. They go by various names: trepang in Indonesia, ナマコ(namako) in Japan , bêche-de-mer in France, etc.
They live in large packs on deep ocean floors worldwide and are basically scavengers surviving on plankton and any organic detritus which falls from above. This breaks down the said material allowing its nutrients to recycle.
Sea cucumbers are sold both dried and fresh. The dried ones resemble dog turds more than they do cucumbers. The live ones are not much better – slimy and utterly pointless. They taste of nothing but rubber. Smelly, tasteless rubber. Yet they are inexplicably loved by many in China and other parts of Asia. So much so, that in 2013, the Chinese government banned its officials from eating them at official banquets. Civil servants all across the country were paying fortunes for them and apart from the perceived greed, the strain on the public purse was just too much. I’m told wild Alaskan specimens were the most highly valued.
Fresh Sea Cucumbers
This ban didn’t help the creatures, though. The prices tumbled after the ban and sales went up, this time to private citizens attracted by the new lower prices.
Sea cukes require boiling in water for about a week before being fried or stewed in sauces where they may soak up some flavour. They pair well, I’m told by enthusiasts, with mushrooms. Waste of some good mushrooms, if you ask me.
They are also used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), particularly in cancer cases, but the American Cancer Society has said
Quotethere is little reliable scientific evidence to support claims that sea cucumber is effective in treating cancer, arthritis, and other diseases...
