I mentioned in this post that, when the fish counter staff clean your fish for you, they will try to hold on to the creatures’ float bladders (aka fish maws) in order to sell them separately. Another part they like to collect is the liver. Again, these will be sold separately, even though they made up part of the weight which determined how much you were to be charged.
Float bladder (maw)
OK. They don’t usually weigh much and one won’t go far in feeding a family. But some can be sizeable. What I see in the supermarket is this.
These are freshwater 鱼肝 (yú gān) fish livers - mainly from various carp . That ¥9.80 is the equivalent of $1.54 USD for 500 grams / 1.1 lbs. These are best fried and, in my home, eaten on toast. My neighbours probably don’t know what toast is. They are mild tasting and not overly fishy - the livers, not my neighbours. They taste of pork and some definitely seem a bit fishy.
If you get the chance to buy a monkfish liver 安康鱼肝 (ān kāng yú gān), jump at it. They are delicious. Like eating foie gras by the beach. They cost more. Last time I bought them, they were ¥65 per 500 g. These I like to briefly brine (usually in soy sauce and vinegar) then steam in foil wrappers. I've also happily eaten them raw as sashimi in Japan.
Monkfish Liver
Strangely, although I can get the monkfish liver, I've never seen monkfish among any fishmongers' wares in China. It is available frozen, online.
