剛好的味道

即便在物產(chǎn)如此豐富的北海，人們每餐一定少不了的是：一份咸魚，一碗白粥，這兩者在北海人眼里，尤如秤不離砣的絕配。

一個(gè)鮮咸香口，一個(gè)平淡清爽，兩種截然不同的味道在口腔里交融，互相平衡，互相牽引。就像這座城市剛剛好的生活，有快有慢，有奮進(jìn)也有安守。

TASTE GOOD, TASTE RIGHT

In Baihai, even the islanders and fishermen who never have a lack of fresh seafood, will surely have one piece of salted fish and a bowl of porridge.

One salty, the other plain, two different tastes meet in your mouth, balancing each other and drawing into each other, just like the development of a city, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes radical, sometimes just to keep up, but always just right.

Text by Yan Junling Translation by Tao Wenjia Photos by Zeng Jian & A Du

Drying salted fishes by the shoreside 岸邊曬咸魚

Gift from the Beibu Gulf

In the Nan Wan seafood restaurant by the Beibu Gulf, the waving South China Sea is under the floor that you walk across. They say every evening when the tide rises, you will taste the just-washed-up freshness on the seafood you are chewing.

The owner presents us with two dishes∶ sandworm and squid. Boiled in water, adding a few leeks, and it is a delicious dish with no complicated cooking procedure, nor seasoning. People in Beihai told us that if you have enough confidence in the quality of the seafood, then you can dare to use such simple ways to cook them.

The Beihai people are very confident about the quality of their seafood. Seafood there is not big though. For instance, the local squid is almost half the size of the Vietnamese squid, however, the price is twice as much. Brother Pang, a fisherman with 30 years of experience, is from the Dishui Village of the Weizhou Island. He grins when he told us that their local squid is much more popular. “Once you taste both, you will be able to tell why our local squid is

1.Fried clams with fruits from Red Woods

紅樹林果炒蜆

2. Fried salted fishes

煎咸魚

3. White steamed sandworms

清蒸沙蟲

more expensive. The seafood here is much fresher and chewy with almost none of the 'smell' of the fish. It's the taste of the natural sea.”

As a young volcanic island, Weizhou Island has rich volcanic ash and sea corals on its seabed. Consequently, the sea provided people with rich marine resources. “More than 20 years ago, coral on the island grew as tall as a House. A variety of sea creatures lived between corals, producing a very high quality seabed environment. The fishermen didn't have to go to the open sea, as long as they drove their boats around the island for a few hours, then they can catch a lot of fish, shrimps, crabs, snails, cuttlefish, squid, sea bass, eels, yellow croaker, and white sea cucumber which were unique to the North Sea." Brother Huang, an old fisherman told us. Even if you did not go to sea, you could just put up a net, and gained plenty when you collected the net at night. However, “As time has changed, the demand for seafood has also increased. The abundance of offshore resources cannot be compared with the past. We cannot say no to development, but you can at least try not to destroy, nor waste any. Let people with more expertise guide us and protect this sea for generations.” Brother Pang says, "air and sea, nature and the environment, aren't those the island's most appealing aspects?”

The taste of leisure

In Weizhou Island, when the fish market opens every day at four o'clock in the afternoon, some boats return in droves. Fresh fish are then shipped to the food market which is only 10 metres away, and soon be selected by the islanders and visitors.

Ten years ago, A Du moved from Nanning to Weizhou Island. He opened a Bed and Breakfast there. He now produces freshly baked mackerel with a fancy molecular gastronomy machine from the United States with practical ease. Soon after, a molecular mackerel with an interesting smell of wood is done. Accompanied by a glass of the molecular cocktail, sitting on his terrace under the burning clouds over the sea, he utters, "It is the most beautiful day." Not far from his village, fishermen sat in hammocks, chatting and drinking tea. When the mood is great, they will cook their freshly caught shrimp, adding some rice wine and a shisha, they can eat and talk until late into the night.

The wealth and leisure in the North Sea nourishes and keeps people, no matter whether you are outlanders like Adu, or local fishermen who have been living there for generations. In Qiaogang, there are even some Vietnamese immigrants. So in this city, you can eat authentic Vietnam Fire ice, as well as other cuisines from outlanders who stay.

北部灣的饋贈(zèng)

北部灣邊上的南 漁村，地板下面就是起伏的南海。他們說，每到傍晚漲潮時(shí)，嘴里咀嚼的海鮮，仿佛是剛剛被海水沖上來(lái)的。

店主端上一盤沙蟲，一盤魷魚。過水白灼，加一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)蔥花蒜蓉，不需任何復(fù)雜的烹飪和調(diào)味。北海人說，越是對(duì)海洋和海鮮品質(zhì)有信心的地方，越敢用這種最簡(jiǎn)單原始的烹調(diào)方法。

北海人對(duì)自己的海鮮有強(qiáng)烈的自信。北海海鮮不以個(gè)頭取勝，比如本地魷魚似乎要比越南魷魚小一半，但價(jià)格卻要貴一倍。打了30多年魚的潿洲島滴水村漁民龐大哥咧嘴笑著說，即便如此，本地魷魚依舊更受歡迎。“貴在哪里是可以吃出來(lái)的。北海的海鮮甜，有嚼勁，沒有一點(diǎn)魚‘騷’味。那是天然的海的味道?！?/p>

作為年輕的火山島，潿洲島周邊的海底有豐富的火山灰和珊瑚群，孕育了豐富的海產(chǎn)資源。“二十幾年前，潿洲島的珊瑚可以長(zhǎng)到房子那么高。漁民們根本不用去遠(yuǎn)海，只要駕著小艇在周邊繞幾小時(shí)，就可以捕到豐富的魚、蝦、蟹、螺、墨魚、魷魚、石斑、鰻魚、黃花魚，還有北海獨(dú)有的白海參?！睗O民黃大哥說。有時(shí)，隨便在近岸的地方支個(gè)網(wǎng)，晚上收網(wǎng)時(shí)也能有不少收獲?！皶r(shí)代發(fā)展了，人們對(duì)海鮮的消費(fèi)量成倍增加，資源肯定不會(huì)像過去那么多。我們不可能不發(fā)展，但至少可以做到不破壞、不浪費(fèi)，更專業(yè)地保護(hù)好世代生存的這片海洋?！饼嫶蟾缯f，“空氣和海，不就是這個(gè)島最吸引人的地方嗎？”

悠閑的滋味

在潿洲島，每天下午4點(diǎn)，一些小艇陸續(xù)地返程。新打上來(lái)的魚鮮被運(yùn)到十幾米外的魚市場(chǎng)，立刻被島民和游客們選走。

十年前從南寧來(lái)潿洲島開民宿的阿杜，不緊不慢地用美國(guó)進(jìn)口的分子美食機(jī)，處理著剛買來(lái)烤好的秋刀魚。很快，一股帶著奇異木頭香的分子秋刀魚就做好了。配上一杯分子雞尾酒，坐在能看到七種顏色海面也能看到火燒云的露臺(tái)上，他說，“這就是最美的一天?！?離他不遠(yuǎn)處的村子里，漁民們坐在吊床上，聊天，喝茶。興致好的時(shí)候，還會(huì)立刻把剛捕撈到的蝦過水煮了，配上白酒，一邊吃一邊聊到天黑。

北海的富足與悠閑，滋養(yǎng)和留住了每個(gè)人。不管是像阿杜這樣來(lái)了就不想走的外鄉(xiāng)人，還是世代在此的原始漁民。在僑港有早期定居下來(lái)的越南移民，于是，在這個(gè)城市里，人們可以吃到地道的越南炒冰，以及其他留下的異鄉(xiāng)人帶來(lái)的外地美食。