Conpoy
Encyclopedia
Conpoy or dried scallop is a type of dried seafood
product made from the adductor muscle
of scallop
s. The smell of conpoy is marine, pungent, and reminiscent of certain salt-cured meat
s. Its taste is rich and umami
due to its high content of various free amino acid
s, such as glycine
, alanine
, and glutamic acid
. It is also rich in nucleic acid
s such as inosinic acid
, amino acid byproducts such as taurine, and minerals, such as calcium
and zinc
.
Conpoy is produced by cooking raw scallops and then drying them. Proper execution of these two steps as well as the freshness of the original raw product is essential to the quality of the final dried product.
from the Cantonese pronunciation of gonbui (乾 貝, Cantonese: gon1bui³; Mandarin: gān bèi ; Hakka:gorn boy), which literally means "dried shell(fish)".
When used for cuisines and sliced up for cooking, it is generally referred to as (乾 瑤 柱)
, conpoy from two types of scallops are common. Conpoy made from Atrina pectinata or kongyiu (江珧), a freshwater scallop from mainland China
, is small and milder in taste. Patinopecten yessoensis
or sinpui (扇貝), a sea scallop imported from Japan
(hotategai, 帆立貝 in Japanese), produces a conpoy that is stronger and richer in taste.
Like many dried foods, conpoy was originally made as a way to preserve seafood
in times of excess. In more recent times its use in cuisine has been elevated to gourmet status. Conpoy has a strong and distinctive flavor that can be easily identified when used in rice congee
, stir fries, stews, and sauce
s.
XO sauce
, a seasoning
used for frying vegetables or seafoods in Cantonese cuisine
, contains significant quantities of conpoy.
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
product made from the adductor muscle
Adductor muscle
- Humans :* Adductor muscles of the hip, the most common reference in humans, but may also refer to** Adductor brevis muscle, a muscle in the thigh situated immediately behind the pectineus and adductor longus...
of scallop
Scallop
A scallop is a marine bivalve mollusk of the family Pectinidae. Scallops are a cosmopolitan family, found in all of the world's oceans. Many scallops are highly prized as a food source...
s. The smell of conpoy is marine, pungent, and reminiscent of certain salt-cured meat
Salt-cured meat
Salt-cured meat or salted meat, for example bacon and kippered herring, is meat or fish preserved or cured with salt. Salting, either with dry salt or brine, was the only widely available method of preserving meat until the 19th century...
s. Its taste is rich and umami
Umami
Umami , popularly referred to as savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes together with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.-Etymology:Umami is a loanword from the Japanese meaning "pleasant savory taste". This particular writing was chosen by Professor Kikunae Ikeda from umai "delicious" and mi ...
due to its high content of various free amino acid
Amino acid
Amino acids are molecules containing an amine group, a carboxylic acid group and a side-chain that varies between different amino acids. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen...
s, such as glycine
Glycine
Glycine is an organic compound with the formula NH2CH2COOH. Having a hydrogen substituent as its 'side chain', glycine is the smallest of the 20 amino acids commonly found in proteins. Its codons are GGU, GGC, GGA, GGG cf. the genetic code.Glycine is a colourless, sweet-tasting crystalline solid...
, alanine
Alanine
Alanine is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula CH3CHCOOH. The L-isomer is one of the 20 amino acids encoded by the genetic code. Its codons are GCU, GCC, GCA, and GCG. It is classified as a nonpolar amino acid...
, and glutamic acid
Glutamic acid
Glutamic acid is one of the 20 proteinogenic amino acids, and its codons are GAA and GAG. It is a non-essential amino acid. The carboxylate anions and salts of glutamic acid are known as glutamates...
. It is also rich in nucleic acid
Nucleic acid
Nucleic acids are biological molecules essential for life, and include DNA and RNA . Together with proteins, nucleic acids make up the most important macromolecules; each is found in abundance in all living things, where they function in encoding, transmitting and expressing genetic information...
s such as inosinic acid
Inosinic acid
Inosinic acid or inosine monophosphate is a nucleotide monophosphate. Inosinic acid is important in metabolism. It is the ribonucleotide of hypoxanthine and the first nucleotide formed during the synthesis of purine. It is formed by the deamination of adenosine monophosphate, and is hydrolysed...
, amino acid byproducts such as taurine, and minerals, such as calcium
Calcium
Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
and zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
.
Conpoy is produced by cooking raw scallops and then drying them. Proper execution of these two steps as well as the freshness of the original raw product is essential to the quality of the final dried product.
Terminology
Conpoy is a loanwordLoanword
A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
from the Cantonese pronunciation of gonbui (乾 貝, Cantonese: gon1bui³; Mandarin: gān bèi ; Hakka:gorn boy), which literally means "dried shell(fish)".
When used for cuisines and sliced up for cooking, it is generally referred to as (乾 瑤 柱)
Usage
In Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, conpoy from two types of scallops are common. Conpoy made from Atrina pectinata or kongyiu (江珧), a freshwater scallop from mainland China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, is small and milder in taste. Patinopecten yessoensis
Patinopecten yessoensis
Patinopecten yessoensis is a species of scallop. Its name Yesso/Ezo refers to its being found north of Japan...
or sinpui (扇貝), a sea scallop imported from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(hotategai, 帆立貝 in Japanese), produces a conpoy that is stronger and richer in taste.
Like many dried foods, conpoy was originally made as a way to preserve seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
in times of excess. In more recent times its use in cuisine has been elevated to gourmet status. Conpoy has a strong and distinctive flavor that can be easily identified when used in rice congee
Rice congee
Congee is a type of rice porridge popular in many Asian countries. It can be eaten alone or served with a side dish. Names for congee are as varied as the style of its preparation...
, stir fries, stews, and sauce
Sauce
In cooking, a sauce is liquid, creaming or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted...
s.
XO sauce
XO sauce
XO sauce is a spicy seafood sauce used in Chinese cuisines especially in southern China such as Guangdong province and Hong Kong.-History:Developed in the 1980s in Hong Kong for Cantonese cuisine, it is made of roughly chopped dried seafoods including scallops, dried fish and shrimp and cooked with...
, a seasoning
Seasoning
Seasoning is the process of imparting flavor to, or improving the flavor of, food.- General meaning :Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings"...
used for frying vegetables or seafoods in Cantonese cuisine
Cantonese cuisine
Cantonese cuisine comes from Guangdong Province in southern China and is one of 8 superdivisions of Chinese cuisine. Its prominence outside China is due to the great numbers of early emigrants from Guangdong. Cantonese chefs are highly sought after throughout the country...
, contains significant quantities of conpoy.
See also
- Dried shrimpDried shrimpDried shrimp are shrimp that have been sun dried and shrunk to a thumbnail size. They are used in many Asian cuisines, imparting a unique umami taste. A handful of shrimp is generally used for dishes...
- SaeujeotSaeujeotSaeujeot is a variety of jeotgal, salted and fermented food made with small shrimp in Korean cuisine. It is the most consumed jeotgal along with myeolchijeot in South Korea. The name consists of the two Korean words, saeu and jeot...
- Shrimp pasteShrimp pasteShrimp paste or shrimp sauce, is a common ingredient used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisine. It is known as terasi in Indonesian, ngapi in Burmese, kapi in Thai, Khmer and Lao language, belacan in Malay, mắm ruốc, mắm tép and mắm tôm in...
- PadaekPadaekPadaek, sometimes Padek, Lao bagoong, is a traditional Laotian condiment made from pickled or fermented fish that has been cured. Often known as Laotian fish sauce, it is a thicker, seasoned fish sauce that often contains chunks of fish in it...
- Budu
- Fish sauceFish sauceFish sauce is a condiment that is derived from fish that have been allowed to ferment. It is an essential ingredient in many curries and sauces. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in numerous cultures in Southeast Asia and the coastal regions of East Asia, and features heavily in Thai and Vietnamese...