Food from the Water

There is an expression in Chinese, hoi sin, which translates into “ocean fresh,” and it is what we say to indicate that the fish or seafood we desire to eat is absolutely fresh. The characters for this expression are exactly the same as those for that wonderful sauce, hoisin, but there is no connection. Hoi sin, as it pertains to fish, means that shrimp are alive when you buy them, fish are swimming, crabs and lobsters crawling about. Two of the best places to see an illustration of hoi sin are in the Ching Ping Market of Canton and out in Hong Kong’s New Territories on a tiny peninsula off Tuen Mun called Mouse Island.