Fish, shells and crustaceans

Fishing boats unload their cargoes of fresh seafood at the wharf at Huangsha every morning. [Photo by Pauline D. Loh / China Daily]

The first area is dedicated to crustaceans of every sort. There are local farmed prawns, huge red prawns imported from the other side of the Pacific, flower prawns from the South China Sea, and pretty blue-clawed prawns that come from Thailand that are valued for their large heads full of coral.

They are of all shapes and sizes, but they must all be swimming and alive, because here at Huangsha, a dead prawn is considered bargain basement goods.

Crab varieties are more dictated by season, although we see plenty of the Alaskan king crabs, just one of which would take up a whole display case.

And then I see something which stops me in my tracks - a whole basket of rare "yellow oil" crabs full of gleaming golden roe. These are actually normal mud crabs with an abnormal condition. In humans, we would describe it as having a fatty liver.

The roe-filled crabs are a particular delicacy and much prized in the kitchen where they are made drunk with a spoonful of liquor before they are cooked so they do not lose any of the precious roe if they should struggle in the steamer.

Huge lobsters, both the ones from the surrounding seas and the colorful blue lobsters from Australia are also available, and here, they are sold at wholesale prices that you cannot get anywhere else in the country.

Ben Huang, the Chinese executive chef of the Four Points Sheraton in Guangzhou is my guide, and he is a walking encyclopedia of all the various fishes that we see next.

Spotted groupers, flower groupers, star groupers swim in huge aquariums, oblivious to the hungry eyes that are weighing up their suitability for the dinner table.

Chef Huang says that the best size for a classic Cantonese steamed fish is a 1 kg fish. Any larger and the flesh would lose its smooth silky texture.

Huang also points out the sea eels, the rabbit fishes and the flounders that are popular in various other dishes. The variety is amazing and the amount of cash that passes through here is equally astounding.