TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A monstrous stingray was caught off the coast of southwestern Taiwan on Tuesday (March 7) and was sold for NT$672 (US$21.81) to a restaurant, which promptly cooked it up for customers that same day.
Fishermen caught the stingray off the coast of Chiayi County's Dongshi Township, which weighed in at 56 kilograms, reported Liberty Times. According to Wu Chun-yu (吳純裕), director of the Donghsi Fish Market of the Chiayi District Fisherman's Association, the tail of the common stingray is hard with barbs, but this specimen's tail is "feather-like and soft in appearance."
(Wu Chun-yu photo)
Wu said it was the first time that he had seen this species. He said that fishermen call this type a "water stingray" because no one dares to eat it.
During an auction at the fish market, the owner of a stir-fry restaurant in Yunlin County bought the fish for NT$12 per kilogram, which came to a total of NT$672. He said he would put it on display in front of his eatery.
Deepwater stingray (left) compared to common stingray. (Wu Chun-yu photo)
Kuo Shih-jung (郭世榮), an associate professor of the Department of Aquatic Biosciences at National Chiayi University, said the fish was a deepwater stingray or giant stingaree (Plesiobatis daviesi) and is the sole member of the family Plesiobatidae. He said that this is different from the common stingray and may have been caught by deepwater bottom trawls.
Wu said that the fishermen caught the stingray Tuesday morning in the open sea. As there are few deepwater commercial fisheries operating in its range, which includes Taiwan, the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists its status as least concern.
(Wu Chun-yu photo)
Later on Tuesday, the stingray was spotted outside the entrance of a stir-fry restaurant in Yunlin County's Douliu City. Restaurant owner Hsieh Chia-ta (謝佳達) told UDN he was the man who had bought it at the Dongshi Fish Market.
Hsieh said that the species is difficult to handle, and many people do not know how to prepare them. However, he said that because he is a chef and runs a stir-fry restaurant, he is skilled at preparing such unusual seafood and has the ability to turn the stingray into a "delicious Q bomb."
(Wu Chun-yu photo)
A customer at the restaurant surnamed Hu (胡) said that they had never seen such a big stingray and it was very strange to eat one for the first time. Hu said that it was a real eye-opener to watch the restaurateur fillet the stingray.
According to Hu, when stir-fried, the stingray's liver was soft and tender, with a somewhat "fishy smell." However, when its liver was deep-fried, it was salty, fragrant, and crispy on the outside, and tender on the inside, with almost no such fishy odor.
(Wu Chun-yu photo)
Hu described the experience as a really rare feast for the palate.
(Wu Chun-yu photo)
(Wu Chun-yu photo)
(Wu Chun-yu photo)
(Wu Chun-yu photo)
(Wu Chun-yu photo)