Chapter 5 - Sea cucumbers in Chinese daily life

Abstract

Chinese people believe that sea cucumbers are delicious and have both nutritional and medicinal properties. Therefore, sea cucumbers have been regarded as a treasure by the Chinese, becoming a common delicacy seafood in their daily life. As the Chinese diet is quite extensive and profound, the ways of cooking sea cucumbers are extremely varied and elaborate. The dishes made from sea cucumbers are typically rich, colorful, and may include some aspect of the traditional heritage of the sea cucumber, examples including home-style fine dishes, cold dishes, sea cucumber porridge, and soup. Traditional Chinese culture characterizes the seasons as sprouting in spring, growing in summer, harvesting in autumn, and storing in winter. The use of sea cucumbers in the Chinese diet is adjusted to different seasons to allow people and nature to coexist harmoniously and to achieve both health preservation and disease prevention. The pharmacological value of sea cucumbers is very high, even possibly disease curing; therefore, many people consume them for health purposes. However, there are still people who view sea cucumbers as being taboo and/or unappetizing to eat. To help people worldwide get to know the food culture of sea cucumbers, this chapter aims to illustrate the motivations and rites surrounding the consumption of sea cucumbers in Chinese daily life, based on ancient and recent literature and our personal experiences.