The Beer Fish recipe is actually quite simple, you score the Crucian Carp, then fry it until both sides are golden brown.
Then come the seasonings, namely scallions, ginger, garlic, dried chili, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, as well as salt, white sugar, and broad bean paste, all mixed together in a big bowl.
Finally, pour in some nearly expired beer from '82, stir it evenly, and then add the seasoned sauce into the pot to cook with the Crucian Carp for about ten minutes and it's done.
Those who like some extra ingredients might also add shredded tofu skin and enoki mushrooms.
But since Chu Mingcheng was dining alone, he didn't need the extra ingredients; two fishes were enough for him.
"Aiyo, my cooking skills are still so awesome!" Ten minutes later, after tasting his creation, he proudly complimented himself.
In this life, he didn't have many hobbies. Aside from liking beauties, the rest was all about eating.
However, while eating, he noticed a problem—the earthy smell of the Crucian Carps he caught from the reservoir wasn't strong, just a slight hint.
It wasn't that the strong seasonings had masked it; he had occasionally eaten this dish before, but the fish were bought from the market.
The purchased fish had an earthy smell that couldn't be covered up no matter what, which he now assumed must have come from pond-reared ones.
Those Crucian Carps were around US$ 10, quite cheap.
Thinking of this, Chu Mingcheng took out his phone to look up the price of wild Crucian Carp.
When he saw that wild Crucian Carp was priced at US$ 30 a pound, he immediately slapped his thigh in painful realization—those darn cats had stolen at least thirty Big Coins from him!
And the larger the Crucian Carp, the more valuable they are, wouldn't one weighing a pound cost forty?
Heartache to the point of breathlessness!
Next time, he had to prepare a couple of smaller ones, losing the big ones to theft was just too painful.
Chu Mingcheng transformed his grief into appetite and polished off two big bowls of rice.
He'd cooked extra rice this evening so that all of it could be used for making egg fried rice in the morning. Not only would breakfast be sorted, but he'd also have lunch ready.
After cleaning up and having a bath post-dinner, Chu Mingcheng didn't go out for a stroll but returned to the bedroom, hugging his laptop and continuing to research some basic knowledge about fishing.
After watching some videos for a bit, he realized that with his current savings, he could actually afford to engage in low-cost sea fishing.
Chu Mingcheng thought it over. Having seen the prices of wild Crucian Carp today, he felt he could consider focusing on catching and selling Crucian Carp for money, while collecting Sea Snails to increase the variety of marine species in his album.
The next day, he woke up naturally again. Life without work had become a bit lax.
Chu Mingcheng made some egg fried rice, cooked a pot of Crucian Carp and tofu soup, and then put on waterproof boots, taking a clam rake and two buckets to set out.
Today was the sixth day of the lunar month, and the low tide in this area was roughly around noon. To go shellfishing, he would have to wait until after one o'clock in the afternoon, so he first went to the reservoir for fishing.
Still not many people around, he chose the same spot as yesterday.
First, he scattered a few handfuls of wine-soaked rice and corn—according to the guides, this is called feeding the spot, though it also required consistency in timing.
He couldn't guarantee he would always come to this spot to fish, but for the time being, he would stick to the current schedule for baiting and fishing.
After baiting the fishing spot, he then took out his gear and started to prepare the bait.
With the experience from yesterday, everything seemed to be in good order today.
Today, Chu Mingcheng tried to prepare the bait differently, but unfortunately, he failed. The bait didn't have the springy texture when pulled apart.
He wasn't in a hurry now; he could take his time to learn.
He used double hooks again today, and just as Chu Mingcheng was about to take out his phone after casting his line, the water that had been calm for just a dozen seconds came alive, and the bobber reacted—it was a big, solid dip.
Hey, starting off with a big one today?
It seemed his luck was good today; perhaps he could make a hundred or two hundred from selling Crucian Carp.
But when he lifted the rod, it felt light, with no weight whatsoever.
Did the fish come off the hook?
Chu Mingcheng felt frustrated. So much for a lucky start; it seemed more like an unlucky opening!
However, when the hook emerged fully from the water, he saw a tiny fish hanging from it.
On closer inspection, it was a small brown fish with a hint of transparency. Chu Mingcheng didn't recognize it at first; it kind of looked like a goby, which lived in saltwater, but this one was in freshwater.
Moreover, what left him even more perplexed was the fact that the hook was intended for Crucian Carp—how had such a small fish managed to bite, and to cause the bobber to dip so dramatically?
With a bit of confusion, Chu Mingcheng reviewed the data panel that appeared in his mind.
[Sand Goby, also known as Ground Tiger (Level 0)]
[Current Experience: 1/10]
[Size Increase +0%]
[Deliciousness +0%]
[Catch Rate +0%]
"Ground Tiger?" Chu Mingcheng suddenly remembered—hadn't he often caught this kind of fish as a child?
His family used to raise chickens and ducks, and he would often go catch these fish with his friends.
Ground Tigers were slow and very easy to catch.
After catching them, he would feed them to the chickens and ducks, which loved eating them.
"This stuff is quite tasty when prepared well, and it seems some people specifically buy it to eat, but not many know its value, so it's not easy to sell."
"However, that was over a decade ago, and I have no idea what the situation is now."
Chu Mingcheng took out his smartphone to check the price and when he saw it was even more expensive than wild Crucian Carp, his eyes lit up instantly.
But the next moment, he lost interest in the fish.
Primarily because the ground tiger was hard to sell here. You couldn't even find this fish in the local markets.
Secondly, the fish was too small. Despite being able to sell for over sixty Big Coins currently, the time spent to catch a pound of ground tiger would yield a bucket of Crucian Carp. It clearly wasn't worth it.
At the moment, fishing was mainly about making money rather than entertainment for him, and the efficiency in fishing for ground tigers was just too low.
Still, he didn't release it. Instead, he threw the ground tiger into a bucket of water.
There was a fish thief at home now, he wondered if it would come by today. If it did show up, he would feed it the ground tiger as a snack; if not, he'd give it to the neighbor's ducks.
He continued fishing afterward, and this time the catch on the hook was no longer a ground tiger but a Crucian Carp weighing over half a pound.
With his catch secured, Chu Mingcheng was motivated.
The awakened Golden Finger was related to the liver. He needed to level up the Crucian Carp liver to ten within the week.
Based on his experience with catching Mud shrimp, he guessed that a one or two percent attribute wouldn't make much of a difference. He would need to reach at least ten percent to feel the Golden Finger's effect.
Having limited time in the morning, Chu Mingcheng only fished for two hours before packing up his fishing rod.
In those two hours, he caught just four Crucian Carp, three whitebait, and five ground tigers. The bite was average, and the efficiency was not as high as yesterday's.
He suspected that catching so many ground tigers today had something to do with dumping the bait into this fishing spot last night.
Fortunately, ground tigers were not that numerous here; otherwise, attracting a swarm of them would be bothersome.
He took out his thermos cup to eat, and after eating, he drove to find a suitable spot for scouring the sea.
"Catching fish at noon is tough even for deities," not just rookies but even people who don't fish know this. There is no need to waste any more time here; he could always come back when the tide rose in the afternoon.
Due to the cross-sea bridge and the beaches, Yanmen Island's southeast is currently attempting to develop tourism.
There's hardly anything to catch in the reef areas of the beach there, so Chu Mingcheng drove to the northwest side.
There were no sandy beaches on this side, but the rocks jutted out prominently. Because it was so far away, even during the October National Day holiday, hardly anyone would come here.
When Chu Mingcheng arrived, the vast reef area was devoid of any people. Perhaps everyone went out to play during the holiday.
Carrying another bucket, he began searching every nook for any catchable marine life.
Upon finding a pool of water, he immediately spotted several opponent crabs hiding inside. These small crabs were unpopular for eating and were now in abundance along the coast.
Chu Mingcheng, quick as lightning, pressed down and managed to catch two, while the other two were startled and scurried away in an instant.
He threw the two caught opponent crabs in the bucket, then checked the marine life identification guide on his phone.
"???"
The marine life identification guide had no reaction whatsoever. The unlockable catching tools included his hands, which didn't make any sense!
Without any explanation, Chu Mingcheng was somewhat puzzled.
Conveniently, there were some spicy snails by the pool, so he gathered a few and threw them into the bucket to see what would happen.
At this moment, the marine life identification guide finally responded.
[Marine Life Identification Guide (Level 0)]
[Current Experience: (6/50)]
[Unlockable Catching Tools: Hands, Fishing Gear]
[Highest Marine Life Level: 50]
[Unlocked Species: Mud Shrimp, Crucian Carp, Whitebait, Carp, Ground Tiger, Spicy Snail]
[Special Abilities: None]
...
[Warted Litchi Snail, also known as Spicy Snail, Bitter Snail (Level 0)]
[Current Experience: 3/10]
[Size+0％]
[Deliciousness+0％]
[Catch Probability+0％]
"Huh, so the spicy snail works, what's going on?" Chu Mingcheng was a bit confused about what was happening with his Golden Finger.
The opponent crab didn't work, but the spicy snail did.
If comparing the two, the difference was one was unwanted, while the other could sell for over US$30 in the market.
"So that's how it is!" Chu Mingcheng suddenly understood.
It was a Marine Life Identification Guide, not an Aquatic Life Identification Guide, which meant the marine life he caught had to have economic value. If there was no economic value, then the Marine Life Identification Guide wouldn't unlock and record it.
This obviously made leveling up the Marine Life Identification Guide much more challenging.