桑溪客棧 Saum Creek Lodge

現在食物的洗刷多由超市負責，就算是全雞，全鴨，也都是清理過的。然而此文告訴我們某些食物清洗的原因及目的，讀之仍然有趣。

原文：

洗刷之法，燕窩去毛，海參去泥，魚翅去沙，鹿筋去臊。肉有筋瓣，剔之則酥；鴨有腎臊，削之則淨；魚膽破，而全盤皆苦；鰻涎存，而滿碗多腥；韭刪葉而白存，菜棄邊而心出。《內則》^註1 曰︰「魚去乙，鱉去醜^註2。」此之謂也。諺云︰「若要魚好吃，洗得白筋出。」亦此之謂也。

The method of cleaning:

Make sure bird’s nests are free from bird feathers, sea Cucumbers from mud, shark fins from sand, and deer tendons from odor. 

Remove sinews from the meat to ensure that the cooked meat will be crispy. Duck kidneys have a foul smell, so cook without them. Fish gall bladders  release a bitter taste when broken,so remove them in advance.  The saliva of eels, if not cleaned, will destroy the whole dish.  

The white stems of the garlic chives are the best, so discard the old leaves. The center of vegetables are the best, so discard the outside leaves.   

To quote from Book of Rites “Remove the 乙 -shaped bones from the fish. Remove the orifices of soft shell turtles.” Those are wise sayings.

It is also wisely said that for the fine taste of fish, one must clean the fish until the white tissue is exposed.  

 Note: 1.「內則」為「禮記」第12篇，內容為居家男性及女性所應遵行的法則，包括飲食，可代表周朝貴族王室的飲食文化，也並堪稱古代第一本「食經」。乙字型的魚骨，吞下去就糟了，還是趕快拿掉吧！2 鱉醜是指什麼？是指鱉臉上有洞的部份，如眼洞、鼻洞、口洞等，想像一下，那些洞也的確很不好看。