Seafood · FFET10435
Prawns (duixia, Chinese white prawn)
Chinese white prawns are used for dried shrimp, shelled shrimp, shrimp cakes, and shrimp dumplings.
Sea fish, shellfish, sea cucumber, seaweed and the dried foods of the sea.
Here, duixia refers to the Chinese white prawn, Fenneropenaeus chinensis, used for dried shrimp, shelled shrimp, shrimp cakes, and shrimp dumplings. Accounts of farming trials mention coastal Shandong and Tianjin. A historical passage also uses duixia for prawns dried in pairs, but the shared name alone does not establish that they were the modern species.
What
This entry covers the Chinese white prawn, also called Chinese white shrimp or fleshy prawn in English. Historically, duixia also meant prawns dried in pairs; that use of the name should be distinguished from the modern species name.1,3
When
A historical passage calls prawns dried in pairs duixia, but the cited text does not state its publication year or identify the modern species. An account of Chinese white prawn farming reports trials along the Shandong coast and in Tianjin in 1958.1,2
Where
Reported farming trial locations include Shijiusuo, Jimo, Wendeng, and Laoshan along the Shandong coast, as well as Tianjin.2
How
Chinese white prawns can be processed into dried or shelled shrimp and used in shrimp cakes and shrimp dumplings. Drying prawns in pairs belongs to the historical use of the name duixia; the passage does not establish it as a processing method specific to this species.1,2
Why
The historical passage describes its saltwater prawns as large and praises their flavor when fresh. Those descriptions concern the prawns in that passage and cannot directly establish characteristics of the modern Chinese white prawn.1
Impact and influence
Chinese white prawn farming was affected by epidemics in the 1990s and early 2000s.3