Image by Totti - This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
This is a fish I rarely see. In fact, it’s been about two years. For good reason. This is 石斑鱼 (shí bān yú - literally ‘stone spotted fish’), Epinephelus akaara, Grouper, specifically Hong Kong Grouper. Groupers are, again, a huge family. The HK grouper is native to the East China sea from Japan and down to the Tonkin Gulf, passing HK en route.
The species is considered to be endangered due to over-fishing. China, excluding Hong Kong, has introduced some controls. Farming the fish has proved unsuccessful as few of the hatchlings survive.
When it was available it was, like so many other varieties, mainly steamed and dressed with soy sauce. I hope it recovers.
