By Assunta Ng
Northwest Asian Weekly
You might think I was a dog in my past life, as I like to chew and suck on bones. My motive is vanity.
No, I am not weird or crazy. You might not believe it, but bones are considered to be beauty aids.
All my life, I have enjoyed munching on meat with bones. That’s one of the reasons why my family likes dining with me — I save them the pure meat. For instance, I would cut off the meat from a chicken drumstick, and I would eat the remaining small pieces of meat dangling off the bone. Nothing gives me more pleasure when my family reserves the fish head just for me, while having a whole steamed fish dish at a Chinese restaurant. They watch me break the fish head into a thousand pieces with my tiger teeth with patience and skill.
Once, we were on a cruise, and my husband cut off the meat from the bone-in steak and gave me the bone as usual. “You gave her just the bone,” said the furious cruise passenger at the next table, who thought my husband was being mean to me.
There is no doubt in my mind that bony meat tastes much better than boneless meat.
If you don’t believe me, try cooking a piece of steak with bones and without bones, and you will recognize the difference. The bone keeps the moisture of the meat intact. The texture and juiciness of the bony meat definitely enhances the flavor of the dish during the cooking process. For those who order chicken feet at Chinese dim sum restaurants, you know what I’m talking about. I enjoy sucking out all the bone marrow. Naturally, my dinner plate is often piled with a mountain of bones, including chicken, beef, pork, or lamb bones.
Fish soup (Photo by Assunta Ng/NWAW)
A beauty aid
“You have osteoporosis,” said my Western-trained family doctor. “You need calcium.”
But consuming too much calcium pills is not good for me. It can cause constipation, dry mouth, depression, and even headaches. Why not try healing foods in addition to my calcium supplements?
So I consulted a naturopathic doctor to get a second opinion.
“Try bone soup,” the naturopathic doctor said. She recommended chicken and fish bones. “Bone broth will give you calcium and collagen.” The word “collagen” instantly reminded me of “wrinkles.” Insufficient collagen in your body can cause wrinkles in your face. As we get older, collagen in our body tends to diminish. Collagen is also vital for your joints. Weak joints can contribute to pain and disability. Collagen pills are available at drug stores. But you have to take many of them to give you the equivalent amount of one bowl of fish bone soup. And anti-wrinkle creams can cost a fortune.
Compared to botox treatments and plastic surgery for your face, bone soup is a no brainer. Women and men (yes, they are just as vain) spend thousands of dollars for botox each year to smooth out wrinkles. But botox has risks. Side effects include facial paralysis and other muscle weaknesses, headaches, and allergies. Once you start botox treatment, you have to do it all your life. Why put chemicals in your face if you don’t need to? Take the natural solution like drinking fish soup. There are no risks. Plus it’s delicious.
Salmon bones and black beans (Photo by Assunta Ng/NWAW)
My fish bones venture
Isn’t it exciting that every bowl of fish broth you consume might spare you a wrinkle or two? I was so grateful for the tip. It clearly shows my insecurity about aging! Yes, I confess that I am a vain creature.
And fish bones are cheap. They can cost as low as $1.84 for a big pack, which will be good enough for two days of soup, day and night. Plus, I am a soup lover. I need soup with every dinner.
These days, I have a secret mission — not hassling for business, not managing people, not writing stories, but hiking to Asian grocery stores for bargain-priced fish bones.
I am obsessed with finding “treasures” every day, including salmon, sea bass, cod, and halibut bones. I am not the only one shopping for low-priced fish bones at the seafood section of the store. My competition includes other old Asian ladies like me, hovering Uwajimaya early in the morning. They must know my secret, too!
I am elated when the fish department staff tells me, “We just cut these bones.”
Wow, it means absolutely fresh!
I yearn for the old days when mainstream grocery stores gave away their chicken wings and fish bones for free. Sometimes, they recognize me as a long time customer and offer them to me free without being asked. Now, the stores have realized that Asian immigrants like bones. So why not sell it?
Now that I blog about the merits of fish bones, I am actually encouraging competition.
However, I am a journalist who likes to share valuable information to my readers.
Why fish and not other bones
I choose fish bone soup for many reasons. I love seafood. Fish bone soup takes less time to cook. Chicken, beef, lamb, and pork bone broth take more than an hour. Beef bones take forever to get tender. They all cost much more than fish bones, and you need a bigger pot due to the bone sizes.
How to make your fish soup yummy
You can make several kinds of fish soup with different ingredients. Black beans, tofu, seaweed, onions, papaya, and veggies are some of them. I like to combine tofu with other ingredients in all my soups. Black beans and tofu mix well with fish bone soup. If you boil papaya with fish bones, it is not just beneficial to have smooth skin. It can help those with insomnia.
One thing about preparing fish bone broth is that you have to pan-fry the bones with a few slices of ginger, green onion, and garlic to get rid of the fishy smell and taste. Fry them until it’s cooked, then pour water to make the soup. Boil the bones for half an hour on medium heat before you pour other ingredients in the soup.
Bon appetit!
Assunta can be reached at assunta@nwasianweekly.com.