I am from a traditional Chinese family thus I grew up mainly on Chinese cuisine. Even the "western food" that I had, tasted very oriental. It wasn't until I was able to afford to eat out on my own at restaurants, did I taste real European food (more or less).
I was always excited when my family gets invited for wedding dinners. I get to hang out with the brides in pretty gowns and imagined myself in those exquisite white gowns, like a little princess. Of course, nothing was more tantalizing than the dinner itself. My parents knew that I love sharks' fin soup and will always give up theirs for me. I can have like 5 bowls of it at a single dinner. That was how much I love sharks' fin soup.
Oh my god! Just looking at this makes me damn hungry!
People who never tried sharks' fin soup will not understand the awesomeness of it. That thick chicken broth with tons of crab meat and shitake mushrooms in black vinegar. I'm salivating just thinking about it.
What about the most crucial ingredient of that dish, sharks' fin? Well, I never really notice the fins while eating but I knew that it's somewhere inside that soup since it's named after it...... right? The truth is that the only people who seemed to be concerned whether or not there was sharks' fin in there, were my parents and relatives. They would take a mouthful of the soup and without fail, discuss if the sharks' fin in the soup was real or of low quality. If it was fake or low quality (I never understand how you determined if the sharks' fin was of good quality or not), they would make faces and talk about how cheapskate the newly-wed couple was.
I know what you're thinking, but this is the mindset of a typical Chinese from my parents' generation. It was not so much about how delicious the dish tasted, it was about the "face" value. Food like abalone, sharks' fins etc have always been highly regarded in the Chinese society because they were expensive or it was the favourite food of some emperor from some dynasty who is already dead for centuries. Yes, my mum is still telling me things like that to make me eat some weird-smelling veggies.
Admit it. You never really notice the sharks' fin in the soup. That "important and expensive" ingredient never contributed to the yummy-ness of the dish. If I replaced it with vermicelli, you would likely not even notice the difference.
Then there is my dad who has some serious misunderstandings with the poor sharks. I honestly don't know what those poor little things ever did to my dad. When I told him that I am against finning, he told me not to be stupid and fall for those stupid propaganda. He said sharks are dangerous and evil, they attack people maliciously. They should be hunted down until they're extinct. ......
Aiyo... This little thing looks so cute. How can anyone bear to kill it?!
I am sure there are many people out there who think of sharks in the same manner as my dad. I guess Steven Spielberg did a wonderful job, perhaps too good, for the movie "Jaws". Now almost everyone is scared of sharks and think that they are some senseless, hungry monsters that love chomping down on humans. If I am a shark, the last thing I would want to eat is a human. Humans are meatless, bony and full of yucky stupidity. At least
ikan bilis is fried and not as stupid.
Sharks are important for the marine ecosystem. They are at the top of the food pyramid so they are in charge of keeping the population of the other marine creatures in check. Sharks feed on the animals in the middle of the food pyramid, so if they are gone, the population of these animals will explode, leading to the depletion of the population of the animals at the bottom of the food chain. Confusing? Not really. Just know that if there are no sharks, the marine ecosystem will collapse.
You may think, that's not my problem, it doesn't affect me if the marine ecosystem collapse. Well, that's where you're wrong. You eat seafood, right? If the marine ecosystem collapse, you may no longer have some of your favourite seafood any more.
This is so cruel and unnecessary.
Love your seafood? Then stop killing sharks.
Want to see sharks at your next diving trip? Then stop killing sharks.
Care for your future generations? Then stop killing sharks.
I have pledged to stop eating sharks' fins. Have you?
https://www.sharksavers.org/en/our-programs/i-m-finished-with-fins/get-active/take-the-pledge/
