在越南下龍灣吃海鮮

2005年4月下旬，我來到被聯合國教科文組織列入世界自然遺產的越南下龍灣。

游船緩緩地駛向下龍灣寬闊的海域，遠遠望去，但見山連水，水連山，峰巒疊翠，煙波浩渺，千變萬化，讓人心神蕩漾，俗塵頓絕。這時，傳來今天中餐就在游船上吃海鮮的消息。

“好哇!”大家歡欣雀躍地叫起來，而我卻頓時愁上眉頭。

我害怕吃海鮮鬧肚子，尤其害怕出外時吃海鮮，所以對海鮮總是“敬而避之”。

擔心歸擔心，那游船卻仍然全速向下龍灣挺進。此際，下龍灣那1500平方公里碧藍的海面上，忽隱忽現著3600座大小島嶼，令人驚異的是大自然那神工鬼斧，竟將山石和小島雕鑿成各種各樣的怪異形狀：有的如直插水中的筷子，有的如浮在水面的大鼎，有的如奔馳的駿馬，有的又如一只蛤蟆，有的如兩只爭斗的雄雞，其狀栩栩如生，令同行者一個個陶醉忘情，嘖嘖稱奇。這里成為世界自然遺產，真是名不虛傳。

游船終于到了下龍灣，停泊在下龍灣的數條漁船旁。這幾條漁船“捆綁”在一起，成了一個水上漁市。此刻游船上有的人已經迫不及待地跳到漁船上，一邊拿起大“海斗”挑選海鮮，一邊與漁老板討價還價起來。

下龍灣有1000多種魚，“有名有姓”的有700多種，特別是鮐魚、鱘魚、馬鮫魚、魷魚、龍蝦、青蝦、毛蝦、鐵蝦、地蝦、軟殼蟹、膏蟹等海鮮，受到游客們的青睞。平心而論，看到那些活蹦活跳的海鮮真是招人喜愛。此時，一位瘦小的女主人戴著斗笠，手拿“海斗”撈起船艙里的魚蝦用生硬的中文向我們兜售。有的人被打動了，指著漁船上塑料盆里的魚，幾經還價，終于成交。這里的成交方式真是獨特：賣海鮮不以斤兩論價，而是用“海斗”來計量，煞是新奇。

我們中餐的海鮮是在游船上“加工”的。我一直在七上八下地斟酌吃還是不吃，所以特地到后艙去察看一番。到了后艙，只見經過清水漂洗的那些還在蹦蹦跳跳的海鮮一古腦兒地被倒進一只大鍋子里，好像連解腥的料酒也沒放，不用說放姜、蔥、鹽、油了。

沒一會兒，一大盆一大盆已經煮熟了的海鮮端上了餐桌。嘿!堆得像小山般高的什錦盆里，說不清究竟有哪幾種魚蝦，反正有的是深黃色的、有的是淺黃色的、有的是橙黃色的，什么樣的“黃”都有。那小海蟹不再張牙舞爪了，那大海蝦彎得像張弓，那竹節蝦、石板魚像把刀，還有更多的我就叫不出名字了。這就是下龍灣的海鮮?我還在遲疑之間，同伴們早已迫不及待地端起酒盅、品嘗起海鮮來。

沒有醬油、沒有食醋也沒有任何作料，甚至連一滴油也沒有的海鮮，不知為什么卻成了大家嘴里的佳肴!

見大家吃得這般津津有味，我想：如果不品嘗一點，錯過這種機會，也許會永遠留下遺憾。想著想著，這時我也就豁出去了，一改平時不喝酒的習慣，要了一盅白酒、挑一只最小的海蝦，便品嘗起來。哦，嘗了一口我便生發出許多奇怪：這些魚蝦是像原始人那樣用清水煮的，但肉卻是這般的嫩；雖然沒有任何調料，但淡淡的肉味卻鮮得出奇!也許這是一種原始的鮮美，一種平時根本無法體會到的鮮美吧?!

“干杯!”不知是誰舉起了酒杯，一時間，大家都舉起酒杯互相敬酒：“為了相聚在越南下龍灣，為了這餐難得的海鮮，為了……”歡聲笑語灌滿了船艙。

灌滿船艙的歡聲笑語也把我的顧忌沖得無影無蹤，我居然挾起了一只大螃蟹，大口大口地咀嚼起來……

后來我才知道這種“白煮海鮮”是下龍灣上最流行的吃法。每年東北風起時，對蝦到下龍灣覓食產卵，下龍灣之夜像花燈會一樣熱鬧，捕蝦船布滿灣面，暗黃的油燈誘蝦入網。而在近岸處，人們一手拿電石燈，一手拿撈子，干脆就近用手撈蝦。撈到蝦就白煮或用木炭烤吃，那味道絕對是噴香鮮嫩的。

此時我想起了小時候在江南水鄉的河蕩里搖著小船去采摘菱角吃的情景。從河水中把長滿菱葉的蔓撈起來，把菱葉掩蓋下的菱角采摘下來，當場剝去殼送入嘴里，那味道也是又鮮又嫩。就因為這樣的菱角新鮮和正宗，即便多吃幾口也不會鬧肚子，那么我在下龍灣上吃海鮮是這般正宗，同樣也不會鬧肚子吧?!

生活中最難求的是新鮮和正宗。于是我消除了對吃海鮮所有的恐懼，放開肚子盡情地飽嘗了這餐別有風味的海鮮……

Enjoy Seafood on Ha Long Bay

By Jin Tianlin

In later April 2005， I voyaged toward Ha Long Bay， a beautiful sea area in Vietnam on the UNESCO Natural Heritage List. As the ship sailed leisurely into the bay， I was fascinated by the breathtaking views of the islets scattered on the foggy sea. Then I learned that seafood would be main course for lunch on the sea. Hearing the news， fellow tourists jumped with great joy. But I frowned.Seafood is disagreeable with my stomach. I abhor seafood， especially when I am away from home， because eating seafood always gives me diarrhea. I began to worry about the lunch ahead.

The 1，500-square-kilometer bay is home to more than 3，600 islands. Islands and islets have precipitous cliffs and shapes， as if chopped and sculpted by invisible gods. Some look like chopsticks， some like a tripod caldron floating on the water， some like a frog， and some like two fighting roosters. We were just amazed.

We arrived at our lunch venue. A few fishing ships were moored side by side and roped together to form a large platform， serving as a minor fish market. Tourists jumped over to the floating fish market and began to haggle with vendors.

Ha Long Bay abounds with 1，000 kinds of fish， about 700 of which are defined and named. I eyed the prawns and crabs suspiciously but they looked eye-catching and very much alive. Vendors sold the seafood not by weight， by a net as a unit.

The kitchen was on our ship. I went to the back cabin to take a look. To my surprise， the seafood was put into a big pot to cook in plain boiled water， without any seasoning， salt， or cooking wine added to shake off the fish smell.

Pretty soon， cooked prawns and crabs were served. My fellow tourists were too impatient to wait. They immediately began to wolf down the delicious crabs. Seeing the great gusto with which they enjoyed the lunch， I was tempted. I tried to convince myself of giving up my taboo and sampling the delicious food: it would be a great regret forever if I missed this opportunity. It proved easy to persuade myself to bow to the temptation.

I sat down， allowed myself to be offered a small cup of liquor， and tentatively picked up one of the smallest shrimps. Whoa! It was so yummy， though there was no seasoning at all. Pretty soon I found myself attack a large crab with the same gusto.

After lunch， I learned that the plain-cooked seafood is the most popular way to enjoy seafood at Ha Long Bay. When northeastward winds usher in the prawn season in the bay， fishermen get busy. Prawns are cooked in the plain water or barbecued on cokes. The unspoiled taste is unforgettably delicious.

(Translated by David)