Fish market trip

30th August came around and we were all geared up, fully prepared for a day of sloshing through the horrendous depths of fishy water (shed blood for the worthy cause of homosapien stomaches, add a few pinches of fish guts to the concoction) we were warned so thoroughly about. The journey to school was tough, dragging our exhausted limp bodies halfway across Singapore, and into what we so fondly know today as our school.

*Late warning: exaggerism detected*

The story continues… We got to school, adrenalin pumping in the lumen of our capillaries, 2am, then 2.15am, 2.20am (where’s our bus), 2.25am, 2.30am, 2.35am (I don’t know), 2.40am…… then 3am. Want to know how this story ended?

THE BUS NEVER CAME *-cue dramatic gasp-* It turned out that the bus company read 2am as 2pm, scheduling the bus to arrive at our destination approximately 6 hours later that day. Afterall, 2am in the morning, or shall we say midnight, does sound a little, just a tiny bit on the extreme side. >:D

But it was okay, it was a pretty cool experience, sauntering into school past midnight (the poor guards were still on duty :O). Besides, we got a free ride, the next time. Yes, there was a next time.

12th October came. Repeat above process, just that our bus came for us this time :D Okay, enough of all that randomness, let us get onto the serious work. We got to the Jurong Fishery Port at around 3am, and it was already bustling with activity. Due to the area being a port, with fishermen and fishing boats arriving from Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and so on, security has been upped, with the installation of high fences, security systems and checks so as to ensure minimal cases of illegal immigrants crossing into Singapore borders. We went through a security post to get to the fish market, a rather uneventful process, as one of our guides settled the administrative processes at the security post for our entire group. Taking of pictures was not allowed due to security reasons thus we could not record the amazing 3am scenery of the calm blue sea and the majestic fishing boats. We could only take pictures inside the market area, but it was good enough.

The market was like a big concrete tent, a wide open area sheltered by a roof. Inside, the large expanse, 9,000 square meters of floor is partitioned into stalls and narrow lanes for navigation purposes. The floor was wet, slippery, and a hazardous zone for those with old, gripless shoes, every inch of floor a potential “slip and wet your pants” danger zone. This is largely due to the many fish mongers tending to their stalls displaying their fish, bathed in ice to preserve freshness, directly on the floor of the market. This ice, like all frozen water, melts at room temperature and contributes to the many puddles found along the slick floors of the market.

The market consists of many stalls (elevated rectangles of floor) surrounded by a network of narrow lanes for locomotion and navigation purposes. These lanes are mostly just wide enough for vendors to push trolleys carrying seafood, crates, styrofoam boxes and other goods to pass. These vendors are typically in a big rush especially at this time of the day (3pm and later), so as to sell of their goods. Thus, we had to be careful to try and stay off the narrow roads, watch out for these trolleys and stand to the side. They don’t care whose toes they’re running over hehehe

Seafood was contained in:

boxes,

baskets,

or laid out on the floor

First up, one of the most common fish we saw -- groupers

• Pink Groupers
• Grey Groupers

They can be identified by the dots all over its body, the shape of its head, and its rounded tail fin, as well as no central split dividing it into 2 triangular parts. They are fished commonly near coral reefs.Also known as sea basses, their gills and mouth are so powerful that they can suck in fish through a distance. They can be very big: a video has been circulated of a 1.8m long grouper swallowing a 1m whitetip shark in an aquarium.

• Also known as Barramundi
• Large fish, able to grow to tremendous sizes, but for consumption, smaller sizes are usually sold and eaten.

Nasi Lemak Fishes:

Main species used -

• Ikan Kuning (small)

Different species of fishes used, same species of different type can give rise to all sorts of sizes

Threadfin Fish

• Malay name: Ikan Karau

• Chinese name: May Yau Yee
• A few different types: Darkish, Yellowish
• Very little bones in its body, mainly only central bone (spine)

→ Usually for babies

→ Highly priced fish, very expensive

→ Usually bought in slices, around $38-$40 per slice

They are also considered easy to catch as they usually form large schools

Snappers

• Red snappers
• Used to make fish head curry
• Fishmongers were cutting fish in half for fish head curry

• Grey
• Pink
• Part of genus Lutjanus
• Characteristic: Shape of head and mouth -- Rounded head with upper part of mouth bigger than that of the bottom part. mouth always curved downwards in a sad face :(
• Bubble-like structure that can be observed puffed up in the mouths of dead snappers on display in the fishmonger’s stall (for selling): this structure helps them swallow their food, but when they die, it inflates.
• Spiny dorsal fin

Prawns

• Tiger prawns - colourful stripes all over their body, as opposed to the fully grey (in colour) prawns that we normally see and buy
• Various different grades (find out how they grade prawns)
• Can also be made into prawn crackers as well

Herrings

• Top feeder
• Silvery in colour (No red herrings)
• Chinese name: Sai Toh Yee
• No lateral line
• Slightly protruding lower jaw

Pomfret

• White
• Dark
• Golden
• Looks very flat and wide

It can be fried or filleted.

Mackerel

(spanish mackerel)

• (metallic) Silver in colour
• Long
• Torpedo shape

Graded, to sell at different prices

High in omega-3 oils

Top grade of mackerel:

• Body more triangular instead of rounded
• Fine skin

Shovel-nosed sharks

• Endangered creatures yet still quite a few caught and sold at the market?
• Bottom dwelling shark
• Flattened appearance to body
• Prominent long shovel looking nose

Cuttlefish

It is not a sotong (squid).

• Body more stout, unlike squids
• Shorter, stouter mouth tentacles, unlike squids which have long long tentacles sprouting out from its mouth

Rabbitfish

• One distinctive feature of the rabbitfish is that it has small rabbit-like mouths, which gives it its name.
• Large dark eyes
• Apparently has venom as well, but not fatal.

Triggerfish

• One spine/spike on top of its head
• Sandy-like, rough body texture
• Stands on 2 spines

Crayfish

• Crustaceans

Parrotfish

• I never knew we could eat them :DDD
• Coral grazers
• Poops out ‘white sand’ remains of ground up coral
• They looked so colourful in the water what happened to their colour D:

Rayfish

• Pretty pretty <3
• Big and smallllll
• The larger rays were so expensive→ one for $300 :OOO

Green Mussels

(mytilus viridis)

• Packaged and sealed in huge bags
• Probably are farmed and cultivated
• Not collected individually, unlike in the past

LIVE CRABS :D

• Males: Flap on its underside is triangular in shape
• Females: Flap in its underside is semicircular in shape
• Crabs are all relatively small in size, and very few
• Compared to in the past, where there were lots and lots of huge crabs of different species: Mudcrabs, tree climber crabs, etc.
• Now, demand ↑↑↑↑, forced to sell the crabs when they’re only half the size they can get cos cannot afford to wait another year.

Fish that the guide is not able to recall the name of

• Barbels (whisker-like thingies) like a goat/catfish
• related to catfish

Carangadae

• Laterally flattened
• different types of carangadae
• Almost no central bone

Halibut

• Flatfish
• very very very flaaat
• Head and mouth towards one side of face
• Swims weirdly cos of weird placement of head and mouth
• made into a dish called “sole”

The golden piece of information all fish buyers (with the true kiasu spirit) need to wield proudly, introducing, the great freshness test, to get you the best of the best, the freshest of the fresh fish. Seafood.

So how do you tell if the you’re looking at freshest, newly murdered fish?

Step 1: Take a good poke at its body. The firmer the body, the fresher the fish.

Step 2: Stare it in the eye(s). The more the eye bulges out, the fresher the fish. There should not be a film of milkiness over the eyes.

Step 3: Peel open its gills. (Relevant human analogy: Dig it in its nose) The brighter red the gills, the fresher the fish.

Now on the the Squids. Do not be fooled by the pretty tint of red on squids as you’re picking some out for dinner. The freshest squids are white in colour. They gradually turn reddish or develop reddish spots after some time.

Fishmongers all dump their fishies on the FLOOR with ice → is this really hygienic? I saw a cockroach running across the floor into the drain ><><

• then again we de-scale the fishies and wash them and cook them before letting them pass down our esophagus.

Many of the animals seen at the fish market are endangered

• All sharks
• All rays
• Some red groupers
• Some barramundi
• Some mackerels

Overfished fish stock, leading to ↓numbers of fishies caught, ↓ size of these fish.

As a result, we see very few wild caught fish, especially sea bass (barramundi) => Farmed fish.

Fish and other seafood are generally sorted by size. Fishmongers, with their years of experience, sort and throw all the fish into different baskets according to size.

We are able to come back to visit the fish market again and buy fishies (with parents to deal with possible mean store owners uhmm), but recommended not to arrive at around 2am. 3am would be a nice time, as the rush for wet market store owners to get the freshest fish at the lowest price (lots of bargaining and screaming), as well as the hurry to unload fishies from fishing boats make everyone in a horrible mood thus more likely to get scolded. And your foot crushed under a big big trolley. And slip and fall over on the icy wet slippery floor.

Jurong Fishing Port used to have open fencing and security was pretty loose, you could practically go up to the boats by the ocean and watch the fishermen unload their goods. But not now. Security has been tightened, with the installation of high fences and security checks to make sure to eliminate illegal immigrant cases which occurred during the open fencing period.

Main fishing boats arrive from:

• Malaysia
• Philippines
• Thailand

Fishing boats are not huge, in fact most of them are really pretty small. But they’re enough to provide the whole of us Singapore with our source of seafood.

Fish sold here are all tropical fish fished from nearby areas.

Ports with fish markets in SG

• Jurong
• Senoko

Fun fact:

Do you guys know where the Largest fish market in the worlddddd is found??

*Dun Dunn DUNNN*

Answer: somewhere in japan.