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Posts tagged fish
Aquaponics – Growing Plants Fast The New Way
Oct 4th
What becomes of the waste the fish leave behind since you do not have to change or clean the water? This is one of the most frequent questions posed when someone first contemplates aquaponics. To reply to this question we must go back to the very first theory on which aquaponics relies.
Aquaponics is a methodology in which the interdependence involving fish and plants can be fashioned and used expediently. Fish are placed in a tank and left there for a while. The goal is to keep them alive so that they eat and excrete normally. This may seem strange but the fish excrement contains ammonia, which is toxic for the fish and may endanger their lives but, it will be used as food for the plants.
The fish are in no real peril as their imminent demise is solved naturally by the conversion of the ammonia into nitrites and nitrites into nitrates. When the correct level for nitrates is appropriated it is time to place seeds into the grow beds or netting pots. The plants will absorb the nitrates while simultaneously getting nutrition and cleaning the water for the fish.
A full cycle takes up to 3 months. This is why it is recommended that the seeds be “planted” 3 months from the acquisition of the fish. This is a continuous cycle, and there should be no periods in which your plants and fish are non-productive. If you use your fish for food be sure to rotate them properly.
Great things start indeed from simple things, as you can see! If you’ve hated cleaning your fish tank, this aquaponic system will solve your problem and give you fresh, healthy and organic vegetables for you and your family. With so many advantages, you should really give it a try! It will be easier than keeping only a fish tank in your home and will certainly be more convenient!
With fish you can simply grow your own vegetables and raise your own aquaponics for food, decoration or for income. And, it can be a great hobby.. Free reprint available from: Aquaponics – Growing Plants Fast The New Way.
Aquaponics: It’s Easy To Grow Your Own Vegetables
Sep 9th
Even for enthusiastic gardeners, gardening can be a very demanding task. It is a very laborious and time consuming activity which requires a lot of energy and dedication. Conventional gardens also require chemical-laden fertilizer to sustain their growth efforts. These are only a few of the reasons a lot of people forfeit their dreams of gardening and at the same time some also toss the idea of organic consumption. There is a method of growing pesticide and chemical free fruits and vegetables right in the comfort of your own home.
This simple, healthy way of producing your own organic fruits and vegetable is called aquaponics. Not only will you grow vegetables, but you will also raise fish. You can offer your family a complete, nutritious meal literally picked fresh from your garden. You simply select your fish and place them in a tank or aquarium filled with water. There are a lot of species to choose from including Chinese Catfish, Crappie, Bluegill, Koi and Tilapia. Whatever the species, do not forget to check and make sure it is legal to raise them in your area. Approximately a month after getting the fish the water should be adequately readied by waste to provide the nutrients necessary to feed your plants. The time is right to place the seeds. With nutrients supplied by the fish the seeds will begin to develop and grow. The plants consumption of the nutrients from the water cleanses it and clean water is returned to the fish. This recycling or recirculation of water done on a daily basis keeps the plants well fed and healthy while keeping the fish in a clean, comfortable environment.
This type of gardening doesn’t require any land, fertilizers or chemical substances; just set up the system and make sure that the water has the normal PH so the fish will live comfortably. Then let the fish and plants do the work.
Though you can grow almost anything you want with aquaponic gardening, leafy greens, fruity plants, legumes, there are a few vegetables that do not do well with the system. If you have a piece of property or even a small yard and want to grow potatoes, carrots, asparagus, onions, garlic, etc., using some of the nutrient rich water from your tank will produce positive results.
Nothing can compare to the ease, safety, health and overall superb outcome of an aquaponic garden. Everything is easily accessible and it can be 100% organic.
There is an abundance of very good information about building your own aquaponics system; also the best fishto use and what plants you can grow.. Free reprint available from: Aquaponics: It’s Easy To Grow Your Own Vegetables.
Pla thu is a very Thai fish
Mar 22nd
If there is a fish that is near to the heart of Central Thailand’s culinary custom it is possibly the pla thu, a type of mackerel that goes perfectly with nam phrik kapi, the kind of chilli dip sauce. But there are very many breeds of pla thu, including types found off the China coast and in Indonesian.
The one that Thais like best, and which reside in the Gulf of Thailand, is not extraordinarily big and is remarkable for its oily meat and its appetizing aroma and flavour.
Its life rotation concerns a definite amount of journey. The mother lays her eggs in southern Thai sea waters where there are stony reefs to take care of them. When they hatch, the tiny fry gradually make their way to the Gulf of Thailand, and the closer they get to the part of the gulf that they are looking for, with its miry bottom, the more food they discover. It abounds in the muddy-bottomed sea off of Samut Songkhram and Phetchaburi, where the fish grow to full size and their meat reaches top quality. It is in these places that the best and yummy pla thu are caught.
The pla thu fish that aren’t caught by fishermen return to the South to generate and the cycle is repeated. Since the entire life cycle takes place in Thai waters, this genre of pla thu is considered to be a Thai fish.
It is one fish that is consumed by Thais in every part of the country. People who live near rivers prefer to eat freshwater fish and dislike sea fish because of their smell. But they make an exception for the pla thu and concede that it is delicious.
FISH PASTE: ‘Nam phrik kapi’ with fried ‘pla thu’.
Thirty years ago a candidate seeking election in Isan bought votes by handing out dried and salted pla thu to villagers. He won, and the cost he paid was inexpensive because he only had to give a few pla thu fish to each household.
When visiting friends in Laos, the most welcomed gift to bring along is a few of these same dried, salted pla thu, or possibly some mussels preserved the same way.
This genre of mackerel is a kind of “miracle fish” that can be used to cook almost 100 dishes that range from the extraordinarily simple to complex recipes that are difficult to prepare. The fish used can be fresh, steamed or dried and salted. Even the entrails are significant ingredients for food. In the South of Thailand they are mixed with salt and fermented for a couple of days. Then the liquid is used to make kaeng tai pla, the most pleasurable dish of southern Thai curries.
In the Central Region the pla thu innards are fermented in the same way, then consumed with minced lemon grass, shallots and chilies sprinkled on top.
Fresh pla thu can be cooked in numerous of ways. About 30 years ago people in the Phetchaburi area would ferment the fresh fish with salt for about eight months and then strain the result to get just the liquid, which was used as an excellent nam pla. If this version of nam pla is no more available, it is only because pla thu has risen so abruptly in price.
In the Amphawa district of Samut Songkhram province, locals envelop the fish in banana leaves and grill them in a coconut husk fire. The smoke odors the fish, which are then eaten with nam pla Mon, a sauce made by mixing nam pla with sugar, lime juice, krachai (an aromatic root), chillies and ginger. This is a simple dish sole to the farmers of Amphawa, as the nam pla Mon is a specialty of theirs.
Pla thu tom khem is another appetizing pla thu dish. To make it, a salty stock must primary be made from nam pla, sugar and tamarind juice, then sticks of sugar cane are placed on the bottom of the pot. Cleaned fresh pla thu are then added and cooked slowly over a low fire for many hours. The longer they simmer, the more the fish will be flavored by the stock as the meat becomes firmer and the bones become so soft they almost dissolve.
This dish is flavorful as is, but to make it even more yummy chop some shallots and bird chillies and sprinkle them over the fish, then serve with hot rice. It’s all you need for a great meal.
Fresh pla thu can also be cooked chuchee-style. Chuchee using fish are made by frying curry seasonings with coconut milk until the mixing becomes very thick, almost dry, then adding the Pla Thu fish. Only fish without scales can be used. People who reside near fresh water will use local kinds like pla nuea awn, pla kot or pla khao and will sprinkle slivered kaffir lime leaves and chilies (phrik chee fa variety) over the fish before serving. This dish is an excellent favourite with Thais who live near rivers and lakes, but even they will agree that when made with pla thu it is just as good as when the local, freshwater types are used.
Then there is pla thu sot rat phrik sam rote. To make it, first the fresh pla thu are fried and then a three-flavoured sauce is made by frying shallots with pounded chilies, nam pla, sugar and tamarind juice, then pouring the sauce over the fish.
These are only a few examples of the many dishes that can be made using fresh pla thu.
But pla thu are also used in “steamed” form in a spacious variety of recipes. Actually, the fish are boiled in salt water rather than steamed. In the old times they were called pla thu kheng after the kheng, or small, round, woven bamboo containers in which they were displayed in the market.
The ones sold in the Samut Songkhram province had their necks broken by sellers so that they seemed to be looking down. This downward-looking shape became emblematic of pla thu from Samut Songkhram, and it originated when sellers were forced to break the necks of large fish so that they would fit into the kheng. Most pla thu were of a regular size, but big ones sometimes appeared and had to be forced to fit into the kheng bamboo container for sale. With the passage of time, when the broken necks became a kind of Samut Songkhram trademark, even the smaller fish had the treatment.
Salted, dried pla thu are usually big fish of the breed called hang khaeng (“hard-tailed”) pla thu in Thai. They can be wrapped in very many layers of banana leaf and roasted. As they cook they give off an appetizing aroma, and taste wonderful when sprinkled with sliced shallots and bird chilies with a little lime juice squeezed over them. They can be eatenwith all kinds of hot curries, or with con-gee(rice soup).
The pla thu is a very Thai fish, one that has a prime place in the culinary culture of each area of Thailand. If other species of fish were to be taken away, we could probably bear it. But if the pla thu all disappeared, we would be in a sad situation indeed.
