One of the most mysterious inhabitants of the ocean floor is the sea cucumber. It is not a plant, as the name might suggest, but an animal belonging to the same type as the starfish - echinoderms. Sea cucumber is an ingredient in many Asian delicacies.
Where do we grow sea cucumber?
Sea cucumber, sea cucumber, sea cucumber are all names of the same class of invertebrates. There are over a thousand species of sea cucumbers in nature, but not all of them are edible. The species that can be eaten are called trepangs. Basically, they are mined in the seas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and the main consumers of trepangs are the countries of Southeast Asia.
Trepangs are oblong molluscs that really resemble cucumbers. The similarity is enhanced by the greenish-brown color and the presence of dorsal papillae. The diet of sea cucumbers is plankton and organic debris, which they filter from the sand at the bottom of the ocean. Due to the fact that trepangs are forced to pass relatively large volumes of water through their body, they have a developed muscular system that allows them to literally shrink into a lump.
On the territory of Russia, the Far Eastern sea cucumber is harvested in the Primorsky Territory, on the Kuril Islands and on Sakhalin.
Due to the spongy structure of the extracted trepangs, it is necessary to immediately cover with salt before drying, otherwise they will simply melt in the sun. Dried sea cucumbers are prepared for transportation. For many hundreds of years, trepang dishes were served only to the table of Chinese emperors. The incredible ability to regenerate (if the mollusk is cut into three parts, then each of the parts will completely restore the missing organs in a few months) gave the Chinese grounds for identifying trepang with ginseng, that is, the root of life.
Cooking use
Trepang is now used as an ingredient in many Asian dishes. The shellfish contains many useful substances and trace elements (more than forty), moreover, their concentration is significantly higher than in meat or fish, so it is not surprising that in Japan trepanga is considered one of the means that prolong life. In addition, regular consumption of sea cucumbers in food leads to a decrease in the risk of atherosclerosis, stabilization of blood pressure, restoration of damaged body cells.
Despite its usefulness and value, the trepang itself is quite tasteless, although some connoisseurs claim that the clam meat has a certain specific taste. However, most sea cucumber dishes are sea cucumber slices cooked or fried with a variety of hot and aromatic sauces to better taste the faint characteristic taste of sea cucumber.
Tasteless delicacies are generally characteristic of the Chinese imperial cuisine. For example, swallow nests and shark fins also lack any noticeable taste.
However, the lack of a pronounced taste does not prevent trepang from being one of the most expensive and delicious types of food, since its medical benefits play the main role.
