On Food and Cooking

Happily, dehydration also intensifies and
alters flavor by disrupting cellular structure
and so promoting enzyme action, and by
concentrating flavorsome molecules to the
point that they begin to react with each other
to form additional layers of flavor. Very lean
fish and shellfish are the usual choice, since
air-drying will inevitably cause fat oxidation
and some development of rancid flavors. Fatty
fish are usually smoked, or salt-cured in
closed containers to minimize rancidity. Often
drying is preceded by salting and/or cooking,
which draw moisture from the fish and make
their surfaces less hospitable to spoilage
microbes during the drying proper.
China and Southeast Asia are the largest
producers and consumers of dried fish and
shellfish. Cooks there use dried shrimp as is,
either whole or ground, to season various
dishes; they steam and shred dried scallops
before adding them to soups; they reconstitute
tough abalone, octopus, squid, jellyfish, and