Fish Maw

Q: What is fish maw made up of?

Fish Maw is actually made up of fish swim bladders of fish. The swim bladder is the internal organ of the fish, and it allows fishes to control their buoyancy in water. Occasionally it’s represented as 魚漂, which means Fish Float.

Q: What are common ways of preservations?

Fish maw is commonly dried or fried, hence it can be stored for a long time. During the drying process, the fish maw will shrink in size, hence the fish maw from bigger fishes are often very expensive. What we carry is the more affordable version, where the fish maw is processed and fried in our supplier’s Singapore factory .

Do you know there are 2 main types of Fish Maw?
Fish Maw in Chinese can be called 鱼鳔 (yú biào), and/or called 花胶 ( huā jiāo).
Shown in the pictures below are 花胶 ( huā jiāo).

The difference is that the cheaper version鱼鳔 is the fish swim bladder of small fishes, and the more expensive version 花胶 is the fish swim bladder of bigger fishes. Another difference is that the cheaper version is often dried and fried to preserve it, while the expensive version is only dried.

Fish Maw 鱼鳔 (yú biào)

Fish Maw Benefits

Fish Maw is rated as one of the precious traditional chinese ingredients similar to abalone, sea cucumber and shark’s fin due to its high nutritional content. It is rich in collagen, which makes it the perfect dish to help maintain good skin complexion. In addition, it promotes blood circulation, replenishes the kidney and boosts stamina.

What is fish maw made up of?

What are common ways of preservations?

Preparatory methods

As the fish maw that we are selling is dried and after which fried, the preparation steps are as follows:

1 Soak the fish maw in normal room temperature water for 20 to 30mins (Remember not to use hot water as it will lose its natural flavours while cooking)
2 Squeeze out the water and change out the water. You will see that there is oil coming out from the water. This is normal, as the fish maw is fried.
3 Depending on individual preferences, repeat step 2 for 1-2 times, and the fish maw is ready for cooking.

How is it sold?

Fish maw is sold in packets, or loosely. SGDriedGoods carry both, please feel free to pick and choose the sizes for your cooking needs.