Is there a difference between saury and hairtail?

Swordfish is a freshwater fish, while hairtail is a saltwater fish. The appearance of the two is slightly similar, but whether it is taste or price, they are completely different. Let me talk about it in detail below!

First, let’s take a look at the appearance.

This is the hairtail fish we are familiar with. It is shaped like a long silver ribbon, with sharp teeth, a ferocious mouth, and large protruding eyeballs.

Although the swordfish has the same long and narrow body shape, it becomes increasingly tapered from the abdomen to the tail, looking like a sickle, hence the name "swordfish".

Let’s talk about the taste of the two.

The most famous saury is the Yangtze River saury, which is also the most delicious species of saury and is known as one of the three delicacies of the Yangtze River.

After cleaning the high-quality Yangtze saury, add only two chives, two pieces of ginger, and a little lard, and steam it, it will become an irresistible delicacy.

The swordfish tastes very delicious, and the meat is extremely delicate. A lot of fine oil is evenly distributed among the fish, which perfectly interprets the word "melt in the mouth".

Although hairtail is also very delicious, its taste is much inferior to saury.

The overall meat texture of hairtail is drier and lacks the oily taste of saury, so it is more likely to be braised or pan-fried.

And the fishy smell of hairtail will be heavier than that of saury. This fishy smell largely comes from the silver scales on the surface of hairtail. I would like to remind everyone that this layer of silver scales is very nutritious and it is best not to scrape it off.

Finally, let’s talk about the price difference between the two.

In this aspect, hairtail fish has a very strong advantage, because the price of high-quality saury is too expensive!

Since the production of swordfish itself is scarce and cannot be artificially cultured at present, its price has remained high. The price of a two-liang Yangtze saury can even reach 1,500 yuan.

Comparatively speaking, the price of hairtail is much more affordable. You can eat one for tens of yuan.

Therefore, if you encounter a very cheap "knife fish", you must be more cautious and don't be deceived by unscrupulous merchants!