弹胡旛垼象山的味道

周东旭

每到清明前，可以让鱼市场沸腾起来的，那就是鯃。

知道跳鱼这个名字，是鲁迅小说《故乡》里少年闰土的描述：“我们沙地里，潮汛要来的时候，就有许多跳鱼儿只是跳，都有青蛙似的两个脚……”

我们象山人管这种跳鱼叫弹胡，书上写“阑胡”“弹涂鱼”。我们把黑不溜秋、活蹦乱跳的人也叫作弹胡，一如水浒里的诨号。我父亲的一位兄弟，人家就这么叫他，他先前以做豆腐为业，不过这样一来，人家更要说“弹胡豆腐汤”什么的了。

象山的孩子满月之后有一个开荤礼。这个仪式也不复杂，选条鱼，搛一点点嘴巴上碰到尝一下就可以了。选用的鱼，就是弹胡。大概父母都希望儿女活奔乱跳、健康成长吧。大虾和螃蟹则不能用，因为大虾是倒退着走路的，螃蟹则是横着走路，寓意不好。

象山的邻居宁海人也用跳鱼为婴儿开荤。民间有“开荤娃娃吃跳鱼，一世生活有富余”的说法，寄托着对宝宝美好的寓意和期望。

弹胡有红烧的做法，但随着这种鱼的数量越来越少，红烧弹胡其实很少能吃到，略觉奢侈。我们平时能吃到最多的就是宴席的最后一道压轴菜，叫作“冬瓜弹胡汤”。沃甘餍肥之间，有一道清口的冬瓜弹胡汤，大概有让人再来一碗饭的意思。

有一次去临海桃渚古城，转悠于老房子之间，突然看到竹竿上挂着一个竹篮，竹篮里用苇秆串着弹胡干，黑黑的。临海的朋友说，这是他们这边的熏弹胡干，据说另有一番风味。

弹胡也是可以钓的，不过不是“姜太公稳坐钓鱼台，愿者上钩”，而是有专门的锚钩，钓绳甩出，直接勾过来，百发百中。这技艺也是一项绝技，现在很少见了。我的一个朋友筹建渔文化博物馆，请人去拍了老渔民钓弹胡，那功夫，迅雷不及掩耳之势，就把鱼给勾了回来。

再说另外一种鱼。每到清明前，可以让鱼市场沸腾起来的，那就是鯃。

每逢清明前，鯃便会洄游入象山港产卵。这时候的鯃，肉质最为细腻肥美。我的祖母，每每说起鯃，总是惊叹：“哇，鯃鲖，好东西啊！”象山人说鯃，就会加一个“鲖”字。其实鯃就是马鲛鱼，但特指鱼背上有蓝点的马鲛鱼，这种蓝点，犹如建窑茶盏的黑釉曜变，像宇宙夜空的深?蓝。菜场上的鯃，纸板上写的却是“川乌”，其实我很不喜欢用白字来代，就像鮸鱼，用米鱼来代。而如果你查一下川乌，却是一味中药。

清明前的鯃，是一日一价的。据说，渔船在象山港上岸的时候，渔民们会迅速地合在一起统计捕获的数量，以数量来定价格，多了價稍便宜一些，如果少的话，价格就很高。而且刚上市的时候，乡人常常当特产礼物快递送给客户和友人。同样，价格会水涨船高。

新鲜的鯃怎么做都好吃，象山人一般和新鲜腌雪菜一起煮。腌雪里蕻，一如颜色中的黑色、音乐中的煞锣，似乎这类特别鲜的鱼，都需要它来压一压，不然感觉鲜味会飘。石浦人有“一鱼六吃”的说法：雪菜马鲛鱼、鱼丸、油炸鱼丸、鱼糍面、鱼骨浆、清蒸。当然，宁波人也常常用马鲛鱼炸熏鱼，味比草鱼佳。

清代学者全祖望诗云：“春事则临社日，杨花飞送鲛鱼。但莫过时而食，宁轩未解芳腴。”宁轩是指主修《至正四明续志》的王元恭，他在书里说：“马鲛形似鳙鱼，其肤似鲳，有黑斑，最腥，鱼品之下者。”全祖望自注云：“鲛鱼过三月，其味太劣，在社前后，则清品也，不知宁轩何以于《四明志》中贬之。”其实王元恭的描述里，说马鲛鱼品之下者，一来有个人爱好在里面，二来其实好多鱼类“孔子阳虎貌相像”，不是深于博物学，一般人都很难仔细区分。全翁的“芳腴”两字用得极好。

古人说的社日，是古老的传统节日，社神为土地神，社日分春社和秋社。春社按立春后第五个戊日推算，一般在农历二月初二前后，“新年鸟声千种啭，二月杨花满路飞”。

其实，我们象山人最懂马鲛鱼了，把清明前的蓝点马鲛鱼叫作“鯃”。鱼字旁加一春字，春天来了，鱼儿回家，不时不食，以示区别。

Mudfish and Mackerel of Xiangshan

By Zhou Dongxu

Xiangshan， in the middle point of the coastal line of Zhejiang， is famed for seafood. Mudfish and mackerel are two delicacies typical of Xiangshan.

A mudfish is a type of fish that lives and thrives in mud or muddy water. They inhabit swampy areas and they prefer heavily weedy drains and wetlands. Flatlands are abundant in Xiangshan. The mudfish is important in local lifestyle. When a baby is a month old， a ceremony is held to bless the baby boy or baby girl. The ceremony is simple enough： the babys lips must be touched by a fish. The mudfish is the best choice for the fishs vigor. Crabs and shrimps are taboos on such an occasion simply because a crab moves sideways and a shrimp walks backwards. In Ninghai， a rural coastal county north to Xiangshan， people also give one-month-old babies an opportunity to touch that vigor symbolized by the mudfish.

In the past， the mudfish was an easy catch. It was often cooked in soybean sauce at rural kitchens. As the mudfish has been decreasing， the delicacy prepared with soybean sauce has become a luxury. It is rarely seen served and is already replaced by the mudfish and white gourd soup. In Linhai， south to Xiangshan， some people prefer having the mudfish pickled and dehydrated for future consumption. Mudfish fishing is a practice that needs a long time and talent to master. A fisherman uses a rod and an anchor fishhook to catch a mudfish. When he spots a mudfish， he throws the fishhook out. When the hook lands on the target fish， he uses the rod to get in the fish on the hook. Such a fishing method looks like sharpshooting. Nowadays， only few fishermen know how to catch mudfish by using this angling technique.

Mackerel with blue spots on the back is highly appreciated in Xiangshan. The best time for enjoying mackerel is days before Qingming Festival in early April. Before the festival， fishermen determine prices after their ships dock at the wholesale market. They count their catches fast and make a decision contingent on the total quantity available. Pricing depends on the size of the catch. Though mackerel is available all the year round， it becomes very expensive about ten days before the Qingming Festival largely because mackerel tastes best at that time and therefore is often shipped off by air as gifts to friends and clients. Quan Zuwang （1705-1755）， a scholar of the Qing Dynasty （1644-1911）， wrote a poem about mackerel， singing of the delightful flavor of mackerel and emphasizing that mackerel must be consumed in season for best enjoyment.

At Shipu Town， Xiangshan， a mackerel is often cooked in six ways and served as six different dishes. Nothing is wasted and everybody at the dinner is happy. In coastal cities in eastern Zhejiang， mackerel is often simply prepared with pickled vegetable and sliced bamboo shoots. At households， people dont trouble themselves to cook a mackerel in six different ways. In Ningbo， however， some residents there prefer smoked mackerel.