Seafood
Sea Bass (Japanese Seaperch)
An elongated silver-grey market fish, scoped here to Japanese seaperch rather than every fish called sea bass.
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3 identity clues
- Elongated, slightly compressed body
- Large oblique mouth extending toward the eye
- Front spiny and rear soft-rayed dorsal sections
Names in other languages
- 繁體中文
- 鱸魚
- English
- Sea Bass (Japanese Seaperch)
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Sea Bass (鱸魚) - ikan laut bermulut besar; bukan barramundi
- Tagalog
- Sea Bass (鱸魚) - isdang-dagat na malaki ang bibig; hindi barramundi
Name in Cantonese (Jyutping): lou4 jyu4 No Cantonese voice on this device
What is it?
鱸魚 is a Hong Kong market name. This page binds it to AFCD-listed Japanese seaperch, Lateolabrax japonicus, and does not treat the separate Hong Kong barramundi listing as the same fish.
How to identify it
Check the whole fish: an elongated slightly compressed body, grey back and silver sides, a large oblique mouth, and a dorsal outline with a front spiny section followed by a softer-rayed section.
Common Hong Kong household uses
Commonly steamed whole, steamed with Thai lime dressing, pan-fried as fillets or used in fish soup.
Choosing & preparing
Have the fish scaled, gutted and gilled, then check the cavity and bloodline. Use a raw-fish board and knife, wash hands and surfaces, and cook thoroughly.
Storage
Put it promptly in a covered container at 4°C or below, under cooked food. Fresh fish should have clear full eyes, red moist gills and firm flesh. Discard it if the eyes are cloudy or sunken, the gills are brown or dry, the flesh is soft, or there is a strong off-odour. Freeze if it will not be cooked soon.
Helper tip
A stall label saying sea bass is not enough. If body proportions, mouth and dorsal fins do not match, photograph the whole fish and label for the employer.
What Ma’am or Sir may say
買一條約一斤半鱸魚，劏好留頭尾。The employer wants a Japanese seaperch of about one and a half catties, cleaned with head and tail retained.
Useful market phrase
唔該要條約斤半鱸魚，劏好留頭尾。Meaning: One Sea Bass (Japanese Seaperch) weighing about one and a half catties (斤), gutted with the head and tail left on, please.
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Sources (9)
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department — Public Market Items - Fish
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department — Fish Cantonese pinyin
- Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department — Hong Kong Artificial Reef Fish List
- Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism — Kimotsuki River Fish - Lateolabrax japonicus
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department — Public Market Items Multilingual Booklet
- Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety — Seafood Safety and Hygiene
- Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety — Store - Five Keys to Food Safety
- Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety — Prevention of Cross-contamination
- Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department / Centre for Food Safety — CFS COOK REHEAT