The Fish I Catch Can Level Up-Chapter 50: Tripletail

The tripletail was black as crude oil and stretched over seventy centimeters long—more than two feet. Unlike the slender body of a sea bass, this fish was broad and flat, giving it an impressively large appearance, almost like a small door panel.
"Whoa, that's a big one! Too bad they don't sell for much," Zhao Jun said, his voice mixing awe with regret. "This type only goes for about fifteen yuan per jin. Prices might tick up a bit during the fishing moratorium, but not by much."
Many fish were colloquially called
datiepo
, or "blacksmith's wife," but when it looked like a bream, it was usually a tripletail.
Translator Note:
The name 打铁婆 (literally “blacksmith’s wife”) or 铁婆 (“iron lady”) comes from the fish’s tough, armor-like appearance and its dark, mottled coloration, which might evoke the image of a soot-covered, strong woman associated with a forge.
Chu Mingcheng wasn't bothered by the price. More intrigued, he reached out and knocked on its scales, which produced a series of sharp taps. The sound alone told him how tough they were.
"Interesting. I've never had this before. Hey, Zhao Jun, let's have this for dinner tonight!"
Zhao Jun was taken aback. "This thing has to be at least twelve or thirteen jin. There's no way we can finish it, even after your friends get here."
A sea bass of the same length would probably weigh around seven or eight jin, but the tripletail, built like a door panel with its thick, wide back, could easily be four or five jin heavier.
"We'll finish it," Chu Mingcheng insisted. "We'll just do hot pot tonight—nice and easy. If there's enough, great. If not, we can toss in some vermicelli."
He had originally planned on making seafood congee for dinner, but the moment he caught the tripletail, he changed his mind. It might be cheap, but its meat was delicious. Plus, this was a live catch, not frozen, so its flavor was bound to be fresher and sweeter.
Seeing his friend's insistence, Zhao Jun had no objections. It was Chu Mingcheng's fish, after all—he could do whatever he wanted with it.
With Chu Mingcheng's patient instruction, Zhao Jun finally got the hang of setting the hook, and after that, he barely lost any more fish. With a bit of prompting, he even started targeting the larger fish in the middle water column.
From two in the afternoon until five-thirty, he caught a total of five sea bass. The smallest was about a jin and a half, the largest four jin. He also landed three black bream, each a solid two jin. The most common catch, however, was still the
shijiugong
—a rockfish you could find just about anywhere. Unfortunately, they were small, only two or three
liang
【About 1.8 oz or 100 or 150g】 each, and sold for the same price as sea bass.
Even so, Zhao Jun was more than satisfied with a haul worth seven or eight hundred yuan in just over three hours. This was all extra income. Adding in the charter fee and what he might catch later that night, it was more than he'd make from a full day of casting his own nets.
Naturally, Chu Mingcheng caught even more. He landed eleven sea bass, and apart from the first small one, the rest were all over three jin, with the biggest weighing in at seven. Beyond the black bream and
shijiugong
, he also caught two rare and valuable stone bream, both weighing three jin. That particular fish sold for over a hundred and fifty yuan per jin. Catching them here by Yanmen Island was a real stroke of luck. Bridge pylons truly were treasure troves for anglers.
After a full afternoon of fishing, Chu Mingcheng's wrist was starting to feel sore. He checked the time—Zhang Wei and Chen Yang would be arriving in twenty or thirty minutes. He reeled in his line, ready to clean the fish and prepare dinner.
First, he called Zhang Wei to see when they'd arrive. Learning they were on their way, he asked them to pick up some bird's eye chilies and other ingredients. A hot pot dinner just wouldn't be complete without a good dipping sauce.
After hanging up, he turned to Zhao Jun. "Hey, let's head back to the pier. My friends are almost here. I'll get the fish prepped, and we can eat and rest for a bit before heading out again tonight."
"Sounds good." Zhao Jun nodded, reeling in his own rod. He untied the rope, mooring them to the bridge pylon, and started back.
Of course, this wasn't the same pylon they had started at. They had moved three times throughout the afternoon, switching spots whenever the bites died down. Tonight, they planned to fish under the main bridge, where the pylons were numerous and the fish were sure to be plentiful.
Chu Mingcheng pulled the tripletail from his cooler. He'd packed it with ice, originally intending it for fish that couldn't be kept alive in the boat's livewell. As it turned out, all the fish they'd caught were fine, so he'd tied a green nylon rope to the tails of his keepers, while Zhao Jun used a red one to avoid any mix-ups. The tripletail, destined for dinner, had been put on ice to knock it out, saving him the trouble of wrestling with it later.
He rapped his knuckles against the fish again. After a moment of thought, he grabbed a manual fish scaler. The electric one probably wouldn't stand a chance against these scales.
He was right. The moment he started, the tough scales not only flew everywhere but were also incredibly difficult to scrape off. By the time he finished with the one fish, his arm was aching more than if he had reeled in a fifty-pounder.
Thankfully, once the scaling was done, the rest was easy. He used a pair of scissors to snip open the belly. Inside, he could see plenty of white fat—a sign of a very healthy fish. Its stomach was bulging and gave off a foul stench.
Chu Mingcheng held his breath in disgust as he cleaned out the guts, setting them aside to use as chum later that night. He rinsed the blood from the fish with bottled water, then picked up the knife Zhao Jun had brought and sliced off the head.
The family must have prepared fish often, because the knife was incredibly sharp. Chu Mingcheng effortlessly separated the head and, with a bit more force, chopped through the main bone. The knife was impressive—not a cleaver, but shaped more like a specialized sashimi dagger. He instantly fell in love with it.
"Zhao Jun, where did you buy this knife? How much was it? I want to get one."
"A friend of mine sells them. It's pretty pricey—about six hundred yuan."
"Think you could have him get one for me? I'll pay you back."
"Sure. I'll have him sharpen it for you, too. He's the one who sharpens mine. I've had it for a year, and it's still this good."
With the knife situation sorted, Chu Mingcheng returned to his work, slicing the fillets from both sides of the fish. The cuts were perfectly clean, with no mangled flesh left behind. His own knives at home would have made a complete mess. His admiration for the blade only grew.
He chopped the fish bones into smaller pieces, cut off the belly meat, and tossed it all into a pot along with the head. He added some green onions and ginger and started simmering it for the soup base.
Hot pot bases were usually made with chicken stock, but they didn't have any on hand. A fish-bone broth would work just as well and would be even more authentic.
He sliced the remaining fillets into thin pieces and arranged them neatly on a plate. Just as he finished, Zhang Wei and Chen Yang arrived at the pier.
Zhang Wei, carrying a large bag of ingredients, hopped onto the boat with Chen Yang. His eyebrows shot up when he saw the platter of fish. "Whoa, what kind of fish is this? You already prepped it before I even got a look?"
"A tripletail, over ten jin," Chu Mingcheng announced, unable to hide his pride. "Biggest catch of the afternoon. You guys are in for a treat." He had recorded the whole process and even taken pictures. Now that his friends were here, he quickly pulled out his phone to show off.
Zhang Wei looked at the photo, stunned. "Whoa, we have fish that big around here?"
Zhao Jun chuckled. "Of course we do. Didn't you guys run into that meter-long croaker on your last charter? And when the mackerel were running, A'Cheng caught that thirteen-jin grouper. Plenty of people catch big ones from the shore, too. It's not that strange."
He mostly used nets, so while he occasionally caught large fish, it wasn't as direct or as frequent as angling. His main haul usually consisted of pomfret, swimming crabs, and small yellow croakers.