It is 6am. I am usually still in bed at this hour, but today I am at Xianxiang Market, one of the best places in the Chinese port city of Ningbo for fresh seafood, according to Liu Zhen, my companion and a native of the city, who is also executive chef of Yong Fu Hong Kong, a one-Michelin-star restaurant focused on Ningbo cuisine in Hong Kong.
“We’re already late,” Liu says, amused. Unlike us, he is wide awake. “In Ningbo, fishermen typically go out by midnight, depending on the tide, environment and season. That’s especially true for catching the region’s most popular fish, the yellow croaker. It has to be caught in the dark to retain the golden hue of its skin.”
