Your Fishmonger's Top Picks for Fishes during Chinese New Year

Being in the line of selling fish for the past three decades, my parents and grandparents have always been approached by friends, relatives and customers on what fishes to get for Chinese New Year, and I realised that their answer always varies depending on three main factors: 1) affordability 2) how prosperous or symbolic the fishes are, and 3) taste! 

Therefore, today, we will list our top picks based on these factors!

For affordability, we list 5 of the most affordable and 5 of the most expensive fishes. The reasons for the prices remaining affordable amidst a festive season is due to our close collaboration with our suppliers at the port that gives us priority for selecting supply, no matter how many other fishmongers request for their supply. The reason for the price influxes of our expensive/premium fish is simply an extremely high demand throughout Asia. 

We rate them according to how affordable/expensive they are in comparison to their usual prices 

$$$ Value Whole Fish Value Fillets  Premium Whole Fish  Premium Fillets
1st Yellow Croaker Golden Snapper  Red Grouper Red Grouper
2nd  Red Snapper  Red Snapper Chinese Pomfret Threadfin 
3rd Baby Threadfin  Ang Go Li Rabbitfish Cod Fish
4th Jiu Lor Batang White Pomfret Emperor Red Snapper
5th Golden Pomfret Salmon Flower Grouper Black Grouper


For prosperity/symbolism, the Chinese hold strong significance to the colour red, especially during Chinese New Year, as it is a symbol of good luck, happiness, wealth, prosperity, celebration and festivity. That is why you may find that many of the fishes they consume during Chinese New Year may have a red in their name, or hold other special meanings.

Prosperity/

Symbolism

Most "Auspicious" 

Whole Fish

Most "Auspicious" Fillets
1st Red Grouper Red Grouper (Ang Gao)
2nd Chinese Pomfret  Emperor Red Snapper (Ang Sai)
3rd Rabbitfish  Red Snapper (Ang Goi)
4th Yellow Croaker Golden Snapper (Ang Zhou) 
5th Red Snapper White Snapper (Ang Go Li)

 

For taste, we base our judgment here on our friends and relatives that always insist on coming over for a seafood steamboat during Chinese New Year every year, their feedback and response to different types of fishes. Since they have no knowledge of the prices, we believe their opinions are less biased that way!

 

Taste
Most Well-Received Whole Fish Most Well-Received Fillets
1st Chinese Pomfret  Emperor Red Snapper (Ang Sai)
2nd Red Grouper Golden Snapper (Ang Zhou) 
3rd Yellow Croaker Red Grouper (Ang Gao)
4th Red Snapper Red Snapper (Ang Goi)
5th Flower Grouper Salmon 

 

Now, we have customers that want us to base our picks off our own preferences. Here is a culmination of 5 of our opinions; if we had a choice to eat whatever we wanted regardless of price, prosperity and the taste buds of our loved ones!

 

Fishmonger's Picks
Most Picked Whole Fish Most Picked Fillets
1st Red Grouper  Emperor Red Snapper 
2nd Chinese Pomfret  Golden Snapper (Ang Zhou) 
3rd Flower Grouper  Red Grouper (Ang Gao)
4th Yellow Croaker  Red Snapper (Ang Goi) 
5th Red Snapper Salmon

 

We spent a good amount of time working on these lists, but there you have it! We hope it will be of good use to our dear customers that are having trouble picking their menu for their steamboats during the coming CNY! 

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