Dried seafood owes it utility to the fact that it is convenient. With a higher shelf-life than fresh seafood, one can enjoy that marine delicacy any time, or store it for a longer period. It is also convenient for storage since it requires less storage space compared to its canned and frozen counterpart. Although canning and freezing is still the best way to retain the taste, appearance and nutritive value of seafood, drying is an excellent way to preserve seafood that can add variety to meals and provide delicious, nutritious delicacies.
Dried fish for example come in a lot of varieties and almost every kind of fish proves delicious in the dining table. There are also varieties of cuttlefish and 日本元貝價錢 codfish that are popular in the dried seafood market as well as species of clams and mussels.
Dried products particularly seafood find large patronage in Asia. In Hong Kong for example, stretches of dried seafood stalls in the market of Sheung Wan bustles with frantic activity during peak seasons of the year, particularly during the celebration of the Chinese New Year. For the Chinese, aside from being palatable, some dried seafood brings luck for the coming year. Furthermore, in Southeast Asia, dried seafood is a staple, since the simplicity and relative ease of the method of drying allows them to preserve the food for future use, especially in developing countries where food supply is an issue.
Dried seafood may already be here for a long time, but even though a lot of food preservation techniques have been developed like improved canning technology and freeze-drying among others, it still fails to lose its popularity and utility. Dried products, among them seafood, still appeals to the market and drying methods are still employed nowadays.