The first time I heard about milkfish was in 2013, when we were in Tainan for vacation. The Wife planned the itinerary for our trip, and included a visit to the milkfish museum in the Anping district of Tainan City.
We bought a one-day tourist ticket and took a long and leisurely ride on Bus 88, taking us from the busy and crowded central Tainan to the quiet and open outskirts near the South-western coastline of Taiwan.
When we alighted, we had to pay particular attention to the specific timings for our return trip to the city centre because they were quite infrequent. Missing a particular bus would mean getting stuck in the boondocks for several more hours.
The museum building itself looked quite impressive on the outside, and was surprisingly large given that it was built just to showcase one particular species of fish. But I suppose it made sense, given that Tainan produces 50% of the country’s total output of milkfish.
The royal pedigree of milkfish in Tainan was evident from the English name of the building. While Google Maps has it marked as the “Saba Milkfish Museum“, the physical signboard on-site announced it as “The Milkfish Palace”.
I’m not sure of they’ve toned down the honorifics since then, but that’s what they called it back in 2013. In contrast, the Chinese name was a lot more toned down, labelling it simply as a milkfish-themed building.
There were two floors to the expansive building. The ground floor was a large and open space that focused on the retail of merch and foodstuff, as well as a mini-aquarium housing live milkfish.
A wooden staircase led up to the second floor, which served as a museum highlighting all sorts of facts and figures about the beloved fish of Tainan.
The entire space was airy and brightly-lit with natural sunlight, courtesy of the large transparent rooftop. As you look up from the atrium, you can’t help but admire the larger-than-life milkfish sculptures.
They were hung from the ceiling with sturdy fishing lines, and really seemed like they were swimming through the air. The realism was accentuated by the shiny scales that encrusted each fish, giving off shimmering reflections of light.
Slightly less obvious were the dried oyster shells that tiled all the interior pillars and walls, adding further to the marine theme of the place.
Informational posters were spaced through the second floor, covering a wide range of topics including milkfish origins, habitat, cultivation, nutritional content, harvesting, processing and food recipes.
I recall that we spent quite a bit of time reading through all the displays, but all has been forgotten since then. If you’re interested to know more about chanos chanos, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has an in-depth reference article.
However, the exhibits that were most interesting to us were those related to food. It turns out that almost the entire fish is edible, from the obvious flesh, bones and head down to the intestines and even the scales.
A wise man once said this about shrimp:
"Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it."While milkfish doesn’t quite have the same versatility, it does come quite close, as evidenced by the numerous types of preparation that were illustrated.
As we explored the museum, we couldn’t help but notice the many cats that were littered throughout various exhibits. They were dressed in whimsical costumes, and given kawaii expressions and poses. I’m sure they’re a big hit with kids and cat lovers.
There was a big glass tank that held dozens of live milkfish, happily swimming in circles. They looked remarkably similar to the sculptures overhead.
Or more accurately, the hanging sculptures closely resembled their live counterparts. Move the slider in the comparison photo below to see for yourself.
We spent the better part of the day in the museum, and took the mid-afternoon bus back into the city. And what better way to end the day than to have a simple milkfish dinner at 度小月 (Du Xiao Yue), one of the oldest eateries in Tainan.
It was founded in 1895 and more than a century old, a fact that’s proudly proclaimed on their old-school wooden signboard with golden lettering.
We ordered the grilled milkfish belly, stir-fried mountain vegetables, milkfish ball soup and some local prawn noodles. The food was simple but hearty, and as close to home-cooked comfort food as you can get.
They only have stores in Taiwan at the moment, but if they ever branch out into Singapore, we’ll definitely pay them a visit. Until then, we’ll have to satisfy our milkfish cravings at Milkfish in Raffles City Shopping Centre.
We’ll probably make a return visit to Tainan in the future, but it’s unlikely that we’ll trudge all the way out to the museum again.
But given the fact that it even exists, and is named “The Milkfish Palace”, Tainan definitely deserves to be known as the milkfish capital of Taiwan, if not the world.
