The development of Fugu food culture is related to Nanjing, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties. According to historical records, from the 3rd century to the end of the 6th century, Jin Dong, Song, Qi, Liang and Chen successively established their capitals in Jiankang (now Nanjing), which was the most active era in China's ideological circle after the Warring States Period. Nanjing was the capital of the Six Dynasties, and the flow of people and logistics promoted the development of social economy, so it was possible for other fish's food culture to rise in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. During the Song Dynasty from 10 to 12 century, literati wrote poems and lyrics in succession, giving many wonderful descriptions of He Fu.
According to Shan Hai Jing Bei Shan Jing, as early as 4000 years ago, people in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River tasted crabs and knew that they were poisonous. More than 2,000 years ago, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River belonged to wuyue during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and wuyue was rich in river crabs. After the success of Wu Wang, river crabs were considered as the best food. Compared with the beauty stone, even the liver of the river crab is called "Yes" and the testicles of the river crab are called "Yes". People's custom of tasting puffer fish is even worse than that of Japanese today. Especially when tasting puffer fish testis, I don't know how to describe it as white as milk, plump and delicious, and it melts in the mouth, which is wonderful. Some people think that it is the beauty of Yue and Yue, so it is circulated among the people. In the fifth year of Song Jingyao (AD 1038), the famous poet Mei was at Fan Zhongyan's dinner table. When his colleagues vividly described the bream fish in that river, he couldn't help improvising a poem: "Spring Island sprouts, and poplars fly on the spring shore. Li Shizhen also mentioned that Yan Youyi, a poet in the Song Dynasty, said in Compendium of Materia Medica that "river crabs, which have a unique taste of the aquarium, have been passed down from generation to generation to kill people, and the rest are in Danyang and Xuancheng, which are eaten by the natives. However, no one was found dead when cooked with leek, Artemisia selengensis and Zizania latifolia. "
Li Shizhen (15 18 ~ 1593), a medical scientist in Ming Dynasty, spent 30 years searching for more than 600 famous works from ancient Yan Huangdi to Ming Dynasty, and comprehensively summarized the achievements of China's pharmacology from the 2nd century BC to the 6th century BC. In his magnum opus Compendium of Materia Medica, he said: "According to the ancient book Shan Hai Jing Bei, which was first written in Dayu, completed in Xia and perfected in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the name of river fish is cerium fish, and Wu people say that its blood is toxic, so if the liver eats it, the tongue will be numb, if the roe eats it, the stomach will swell, and if the eyes eat it, it will be blind. Ma Zhi, a native of Song Dynasty (about 968), said in "Kaibao Materia Medica" that there are fish in the Yangtze River, Huaihe River, Yellow River and the sea.
Now Hai 'an is the earliest place to eat puffer fish, and Qingdun witnessed the delicacy of puffer fish more than 3000 years ago.
Throughout the ages, with the change of ecological environment, the rivers and estuaries of the Huaihe River and the Yellow River have changed many times, and the old course of the Yellow River still remains in Lianshui, Jiangsu Province. Hongze, Huaiyin, Huai 'an, Jinhu and Funing in Jiangsu are all in the lower reaches of Huaihe River, but people have never seen other fish in Huanghuai. According to the author's investigation, at present, both sides of the Yellow River and Huaihe River simply don't know or eat river crabs. However, people in the coastal areas of northern Jiangsu and on both sides of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are generally familiar with and addicted to the fish, and the food culture of the fish inherited so far is completely in tune with the description of Su Dongpo and Mei. According to the ancient description of the distribution, ecological habits, external morphology and behavior of fugu orientalis, the fugu orientalis in "eating fugu orientalis desperately" should refer to fugu obscurus who entered the Yangtze River in spring for reproductive migration.
The story of Yan Song's eating river bream.
The goby is a poisonous fish, and its blood, viscera and ovaries are highly toxic. People who eat gobies by mistake often die, even those who rely on themselves for a period of time will be poisoned to death because of carelessness and improper handling. Also because of the poison of the boat fish, a lot of folklore has been deduced.
In the Ming Dynasty, Yan Song, a greedy and treacherous minister, married a fisherman from Penglai, Shandong Province as a concubine when she was over 80 years old. Tired of eating delicacies, Yan Song's subordinates planned a boat banquet for his wedding banquet to show their flattery, which was recognized by Yan Song, so they took the boat fish and the chef invited from Shandong to Beijing. Just in case, take a young father-in-law as a guarantee.
On the wedding day, dignitaries, local dignitaries and other guests gathered to congratulate and were very lively. When the last delicious stewed fish was served, the drooling guests scrambled for food, and in a blink of an eye, a large plate of fish was already in their mouths.
Just when everyone had not fully appreciated the delicacy of the fish in the boat, at a table near the window on the south side of the middle, there was a young man in robes and scholar-like appearance who fell to the ground in vain, foaming at the mouth and convulsing unconscious. "Someone is poisoned!" The wedding reception was full of noise and chaos. Yan Song's minions went straight to the kitchen to catch the cook, but they didn't find any, nor did "father-in-law".
In a panic, Yan Song flew into a rage and asked Yu Ji, "How to detoxify?"
My concubine said, "Only yellow soup."
Yan Song asked, "What is yellow soup?"
My concubine said, "That's dung."
Yan Song immediately ordered to go to the toilet to transport manure.
In order to detoxify and survive, the guests forgot their face and dignity. Everyone picked up the bowl, raised their necks, closed their eyes and drank the dung. They spit out the fish, fish and other foods that they robbed, and even poured out their internal organs. The wedding banquet was smelly, messy and groaning.
It is said that the villagers who came to Beijing for the first time, after eating the plate of fish, all ran to the corner to watch the scenery and were captured alive. Just as he was about to confess, the man who fell to the ground woke up and told the truth. It turned out that the scholar went out to pee during the dinner, and when he came back, the boat and fish were swept away, and suddenly the atmosphere was born, and the old illness of epilepsy recurred ... At this time, people suddenly realized.
This is the story of "Don Juan" detoxicating fish poison (there is a similar story in the novel "Three Heroes and Five Righteousnesses", that is, the jade bottle polluted the sheep fat jade for the 43rd time, and the beautiful concubine died of bad breath).
The toxic component of puffer fish is tetrodotoxin, which is a neurotoxin. People will die if they eat 0.5 ~ 3 mg of dolphin toxin. Liver, spleen, kidney, ovary, testis, eyeball, skin and blood are all toxic. Eggs, ovaries and liver are the most toxic, followed by kidneys, blood, eyes and skin. The toxin is heat-resistant, and cannot be destroyed at 100℃ for 8 hours, but only at 120℃ 1 hour, nor can it be destroyed by salting or sun exposure.
Every spring is the spawning season of puffer fish. At this time, the fish is the most toxic, so spring is the high incidence season of puffer fish poisoning. China's "Measures for the Hygienic Management of Aquatic Products" clearly stipulates: "The fish of river bream are highly toxic and shall not enter the market. Captured toxic fish, such as puffer fish, should be picked out, boxed and stored specially. Therefore, puffer fish is not suitable for eating. Only a few people are desperate to eat fugu, but most people are poisoned because they don't know the fugu fish and accidentally eat it.