Why is the mudskipper called a dish of wealth, longevity, and good fortune?

The mudskipper's scientific name is the mudskipper (Periophthalmus), also known as the spotted mudskipper, flower fish, and jumping fish. It is a small economic fish distributed along the coastal mudflats of China, Korea, Japan, and the Malay Peninsula, and is produced in large quantities in coastal areas of our country, especially along the southeast coast. Common varieties include the large mudskipper, the mudskipper, and the blue-spotted mudskipper, among which the large mudskipper is the largest. This fish has an elongated, round body, 10-20 cm long and weighing 20-50 g, with large ones reaching about 100 g. It has a large head, a wide mouth, and protruding eyes; its body is grayish-black or grayish-brown and covered with mottled markings. It usually likes to crawl and jump on the beach after the tide recedes, enjoys burrowing into holes, and has burrowing habits. It mostly inhabits low-tide zones with muddy bottoms or estuarine mudflats with brackish water, feeding on benthic algae and insects. The mudskipper has a certain tolerance for harsh environments, being both cold-resistant and heat-resistant, and can go without food or water for several days after leaving the mudflat. Mudskippers can be caught year-round, with larger yields especially in summer and autumn. In recent years, some places have also developed aquaculture to supply the market. Mudskipper meat is tender, delicious, and nutritious. According to analysis, every 100 g of fish meat contains 20.4 g of protein, 3.9 g of fat, and also contains carbohydrates and calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B1, B2, and niacin, etc. Its nutritional composition can compare with famous seafood delicacies such as prawns, lobster, and eel, making it a high-protein nutritious food regarded as a top-grade fish. There are many cooking methods for preparing mudskipper dishes, including steaming, braising in soy sauce, deep-frying, salt and pepper, making congee, and preparing various soups, all of which taste delicious and are suitable for all ages. Among them, frying after coating with cornstarch is delicious and colorful; mudskipper cooked in watercress soup tastes fresh and sweet; steamed spotted mudskipper is tender and refreshing with an endless aftertaste; salt-and-pepper spotted mudskipper is crisp and smooth, deeply loved by diners. The mudskipper is not only a delicious dish but also has high medicinal and dietary therapeutic value. According to relevant records, the mudskipper has functions such as nourishing yin and strengthening yang, tonifying the kidney and strengthening the waist, producing essence and nourishing blood, and relaxing tendons and activating collaterals. Therefore, Japanese and Western people regard the mudskipper as a tonic delicacy and praise it as "ginseng in water." Recorded dietary therapy methods include: for those recovering from a long illness, with kidney deficiency and essence depletion, weak constitution, soreness and pain in the waist and knees, and weakness of the limbs, stew a few liang of mudskipper with angelica, prepared rehmannia, or goji berry, astragalus, etc.; or cook a few liang of mudskipper with rice, old ginger, salt, and pepper into congee. Take once a day, and after several consecutive doses, there will be significant effects. In addition, the spotted mudskipper also has the effect of nourishing the body and accelerating wound healing, and also has a good tonic effect on postoperative patients and postpartum women. The recorded dietary therapy method is to cook the mudskipper with shredded ginger in soup, or stew or steam it with angelica, which can achieve good results. According to other records, frequently eating spotted mudskipper can also assist in treating infectious hepatitis, hemorrhoids, etc., and also has a certain effect on damp-heat and edema. The mudskipper is also very suitable for elderly people because it contains little cholesterol and fat, and contains a substance called "hexadecenoic acid," which has the effect of protecting blood vessels, so it is an ideal food for patients with hypertension. Therefore, in many hotels and restaurants, the mudskipper is supplied to diners as a precious seafood, especially at banquets in Guangdong, Hong Kong, China, Fujian, Taiwan, China, and other places, where the mudskipper is regarded as a dish of wealth and longevity, deeply favored by diners.