No identification doubts about this species but some confusion.
S: 鲑鱼; T: 鮭魚 (guī yú) is the semi-official name for salmon but the sound-alike loanword from English, S: 三文鱼; T: 三文魚 (sān wén yú) is more common.
Where the confusion comes in is that although some species of Pacific salmon do reach west to China, especially S: 大鳞大麻哈鱼; T: 大鱗大麻哈魚 (dà lín dá má hǎ yú), Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, king salmon aka Chinook salmon, the fish sold here is always Salmo salar, North Atlantic salmon from the other side of the world. It certainly doesn’t swim here.
Most salmon in China is imported from Norway, making it an expensive choice for the dinner table. It is only found in the more upmarket supermarkets and in restaurants, especially Japanese restaurants (nearly all of which are China owned and staffed).
Supplies from Norway were seriously disrupted when China threw a temper tantrum after the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Imports were unofficially embargoed for three years and trade talks frozen. Liu died in prison in 2017 of liver cancer, aged 61.
In 2021, it was announced that China had successfully harvested its first batch of 3,000 farmed salmon from a Yellow Sea fish culture zone. Efforts to build a full scale salmon farming program are continuing.
Meanwhile we are back to eating salmon from the fjords of Norway. There was a dip in supply and therefore consumption during the height of the pandemic but it has now recovered.
In my experience, most of the salmon is eaten as sushi* or in other Japanese style preparations. None of my Chinese language cookbooks have recipes. Recipes on the internet are ‘China inspired’ rather than Chinese. Many are just recipes for other fish with salmon substituted for native fish. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Salmon and sole ramen
Smoked salmon can be bought online, but is not of great quality. In 28 years, I've only seen it once in a supermarket. Unfortunately, I bought it. Having been raised by Scotland's premier salmon rivers, my expectations were high. Never have they fallen so low. It was rank.
* Sushi was introduced to Japan from China (but not using salmon) in the 8th century CE then adapted and elevated to its current prestige level.
