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Q: Fish quality in small markets
I bought in a small shop and found some "fresh" sardines. Probably not as fresh as what the employee would say (t'was to the point where he almost wanted me believe they havent been fished yet), but they didnt smell bad. So i bought a dozen to make myself a nice meal at home.
On a side note, it's crazy how it's cheaper and more convenient to eat out instead of cooking. But I got tired of eating out.
So they didn't taste bad. Wasn't incredible either, but it was passable. The thing I noticed though is that the small bones were a little harder than what I'm used for in my small little hometown in Missouri and Boston where I graduated. I'm used to sardines with bones that are chewy, but definitely not that hard.
The thing is that a few hours later, I had some bowel movements. Mind me, I wasn't sick or anything, it was just regular bowel movement. By the way, I use those herbs my girlfriend got me to help with digestion. She said her family have used it for generations and supposedly the Emperor thousands of year ago or whatever used it too.
But when I was on my throne, I started to feel some pain. Not from the sardines (they were coming out) but from the bones. Those little buggers didn't dissolve in my stomach and were trying to get out. One of them litteraly pierced my inside (I could see the blood drip down).
My girlfriend called an uncle or whatever and he told her to go by herbs to make a tea that will solve my problem.
So i have two questions here:
1) how the eff can tea help my bleeding anoos?
2) how the eff can chinese sardines have such strong bones?
11 years 39 weeks ago in Health & Safety - China
Maybe they were not really "sardines", just look like them.
I do not buy fish in local markets. There are too many industrial and residential pollutants in the waters of rivers and lakes in China. So, I do avoid buying or eating fresh water fish. sometimes I do take a day trip to a shoreline town or village, then I do bring my cooler and do buy salt water fish if available when I do visit.
Even on small markets, there are fresh fish, if it is not alive - take a look on the eyes - if glassy that's good, if murky... not so good.
For me more safe (and also - more tasty) is sea fish, but You can buy them also at local markets - it is bought sometimes the same day or day earlier at the shore.
You won't believe how fast it can be moved from the ship to the local market hundreds km away...
If You are not sure, what to buy - get some friendly local with You for the first time.
Btw. If You realized, that fish bones are hard... what the hell You was thinking of eating it?! That is just asking for a troubles. 
Btw2. for me - cooking is cheaper (not much then the street food, but much cheaper then in restaurant), and it is a great experience - specially when I cook local dishes
-Are you used to canned Sardine or Fresh Sardine...I'm a bit puzzled because Boston is maritime, but Missouri is inland.
I dunno, Chinese tea is a science in itself apparently. I went to a tea-house once and was introduced to 12 different teas, each having a different quality: this one's for your heart, this one's for your lungs, this one's for your brain, etc. Maybe the tea your girlfriend's getting you helps blood coagulate. No idea why the bones were so hard. Lovely story though.
I have to agree with rasklnik: Are you accustomed to canned sardines? The canning process softens the bones, which is why they're digestible. Fresh sardines need to have the bones removed.
Also to paraphrase what WhiteBear said: if you couldn't chew it, why did you eat it? Next time, if you can't chew something, spit it out. (discretely, of course.)
As for the tea, keep this in mind: Tea (all tea) is just plants* in water. Humans have been using plants for their medicinal properties long before we figured out how to mash them into easy-to-swallow capsule form. Find out what plant is in the tea, and you learn what the tea is for.
(*before anyone starts kvetching, I'm of the opinion that if it's got animals in it, it's not tea, it's soup.)
They were definitely sardines. I'm used to canned ones and fresh ones. Even if i'm not a big gourmet or anything, i can definitely tell the difference between sardines and other fishes.
Really, the taste was ok, nothing unusual about them, except for those bones. it felts like eating needles. and yes, i ate them because removing them is a pain in the ass. Oh well, the results were the same anyways.
To be honest, we dont do a lot of cooking with my girlfriend, even if we definitely know the how-to. Maybe it's just the batch that was bad, or maybe the sardines were too much grown, maybe that's why the bones were so strong. It's true they were a bit bigger than what i was used too. Maybe i should eat babies, bones must be more chewy.
As for the tea, it didn't help at all. I can imagine how some special magical chinese tea can cure stomachaches, but we were talking about a tored up anoos here. I would understand if i had to rub the leaves there, but drinking tea... I fail to understand.
For the little story, my girlfriend was laughing her ass off because I havent been able to sit since yesterday, and she even offered to give me some of her tampax to help aleviate the bleeding.
:
Just a word of advice here... If you're that ripped up, I would go to a doctor, in case you have a perforated intestine, as well as an... 'anoos'. Fecal bacteria loose in your body cavity is not something to be shrugged off. It killed my father in a very short, painful, three weeks.
