彈胡旛垼象山的味道

周東旭

每到清明前，可以讓魚市場沸騰起來的，那就是鯃。

知道跳魚這個名字，是魯迅小說《故鄉(xiāng)》里少年閏土的描述：“我們沙地里，潮汛要來的時候，就有許多跳魚兒只是跳，都有青蛙似的兩個腳……”

我們象山人管這種跳魚叫彈胡，書上寫“闌胡”“彈涂魚”。我們把黑不溜秋、活蹦亂跳的人也叫作彈胡，一如水滸里的諢號。我父親的一位兄弟，人家就這么叫他，他先前以做豆腐為業(yè)，不過這樣一來，人家更要說“彈胡豆腐湯”什么的了。

象山的孩子滿月之后有一個開葷禮。這個儀式也不復雜，選條魚，搛一點點嘴巴上碰到嘗一下就可以了。選用的魚，就是彈胡。大概父母都希望兒女活奔亂跳、健康成長吧。大蝦和螃蟹則不能用，因為大蝦是倒退著走路的，螃蟹則是橫著走路，寓意不好。

象山的鄰居寧海人也用跳魚為嬰兒開葷。民間有“開葷娃娃吃跳魚，一世生活有富余”的說法，寄托著對寶寶美好的寓意和期望。

彈胡有紅燒的做法，但隨著這種魚的數(shù)量越來越少，紅燒彈胡其實很少能吃到，略覺奢侈。我們平時能吃到最多的就是宴席的最后一道壓軸菜，叫作“冬瓜彈胡湯”。沃甘饜肥之間，有一道清口的冬瓜彈胡湯，大概有讓人再來一碗飯的意思。

有一次去臨海桃渚古城，轉(zhuǎn)悠于老房子之間，突然看到竹竿上掛著一個竹籃，竹籃里用葦稈串著彈胡干，黑黑的。臨海的朋友說，這是他們這邊的熏彈胡干，據(jù)說另有一番風味。

彈胡也是可以釣的，不過不是“姜太公穩(wěn)坐釣魚臺，愿者上鉤”，而是有專門的錨鉤，釣繩甩出，直接勾過來，百發(fā)百中。這技藝也是一項絕技，現(xiàn)在很少見了。我的一個朋友籌建漁文化博物館，請人去拍了老漁民釣彈胡，那功夫，迅雷不及掩耳之勢，就把魚給勾了回來。

再說另外一種魚。每到清明前，可以讓魚市場沸騰起來的，那就是鯃。

每逢清明前，鯃便會洄游入象山港產(chǎn)卵。這時候的鯃，肉質(zhì)最為細膩肥美。我的祖母，每每說起鯃，總是驚嘆：“哇，鯃鲖，好東西??！”象山人說鯃，就會加一個“鲖”字。其實鯃就是馬鮫魚，但特指魚背上有藍點的馬鮫魚，這種藍點，猶如建窯茶盞的黑釉曜變，像宇宙夜空的深?藍。菜場上的鯃，紙板上寫的卻是“川烏”，其實我很不喜歡用白字來代，就像鮸魚，用米魚來代。而如果你查一下川烏，卻是一味中藥。

清明前的鯃，是一日一價的。據(jù)說，漁船在象山港上岸的時候，漁民們會迅速地合在一起統(tǒng)計捕獲的數(shù)量，以數(shù)量來定價格，多了價稍便宜一些，如果少的話，價格就很高。而且剛上市的時候，鄉(xiāng)人常常當特產(chǎn)禮物快遞送給客戶和友人。同樣，價格會水漲船高。

新鮮的鯃怎么做都好吃，象山人一般和新鮮腌雪菜一起煮。腌雪里蕻，一如顏色中的黑色、音樂中的煞鑼，似乎這類特別鮮的魚，都需要它來壓一壓，不然感覺鮮味會飄。石浦人有“一魚六吃”的說法：雪菜馬鮫魚、魚丸、油炸魚丸、魚糍面、魚骨漿、清蒸。當然，寧波人也常常用馬鮫魚炸熏魚，味比草魚佳。

清代學者全祖望詩云：“春事則臨社日，楊花飛送鮫魚。但莫過時而食，寧軒未解芳腴?！睂庈幨侵钢餍蕖吨琳拿骼m(xù)志》的王元恭，他在書里說：“馬鮫形似鳙魚，其膚似鯧，有黑斑，最腥，魚品之下者?！比嫱宰⒃疲骸磅o魚過三月，其味太劣，在社前后，則清品也，不知寧軒何以于《四明志》中貶之?！逼鋵嵧踉У拿枋隼?，說馬鮫魚品之下者，一來有個人愛好在里面，二來其實好多魚類“孔子陽虎貌相像”，不是深于博物學，一般人都很難仔細區(qū)分。全翁的“芳腴”兩字用得極好。

古人說的社日，是古老的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日，社神為土地神，社日分春社和秋社。春社按立春后第五個戊日推算，一般在農(nóng)歷二月初二前后，“新年鳥聲千種囀，二月楊花滿路飛”。

其實，我們象山人最懂馬鮫魚了，把清明前的藍點馬鮫魚叫作“鯃”。魚字旁加一春字，春天來了，魚兒回家，不時不食，以示區(qū)別。

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.