Salted sturgeon caviar in the menu of many world famous Michelin star restaurants comes from a country that few people think of: China.

China has faced a lot of dirty food scandals in recent years, but sturgeon eggs produced in this Asian country are highly appreciated by caviar lovers. Foods such as "black gold" are very expensive for US customers because they are on the list of 25% tariffs of the US-China trade war.

Chinese caviar is mostly produced from a picturesque lake in Zhejiang province, where the Kaluga Queen Company raises giant sturgeon farms. Established in 2005, the Kaluga Queen now produces more than a third of the world's caviar production, globally dominating this delicacy and luxury food.

Sturgeon farm of Kaluga Queen is located about 20 minutes from the shore of Lake Qiandaohu (Wan Dao) in Zhejiang. Sturgeon must be raised for 7 to 15 years to lay eggs. The largest sturgeon can be up to 4 meters long and weigh about 300 kg.

"They are just like our children. I took care of them when I was a kid, so I couldn't see them being slaughtered. But we are also happy to contribute to making a good food," Qiao said. Yuwen, who keeps sturgeon, talks and drops pellets made from shrimp, peas and vitamins for the fish to eat.

A long time ago, Russia and Iran often caught natural sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. But overfishing and poaching have reduced sturgeon production. Sturgeon fishing in the Caspian Sea was banned in 2008, while sturgeon farms grew like mushrooms everywhere, especially Italy, France and China.

Kaluga Queen's sturgeon farm currently has 300 employees responsible for raising about 200,000 children. At the age of spawning, the female sturgeon is taken to a lab for anesthesia and is taken for eggs. Eggs are then washed, sorted, salted and canned.

Last year, the Kaluga Queen produced 86 tons of caviar and was largely exported to markets such as the European Union (50%), the US (20%) and Russia (10%). A kilogram of caviar costs between 10,000 and 18,000 yuan (US $ 1,420-25,600), depending on the type.

A set of eggs of the most expensive sturgeon can be worth up to 2 million yuan (more than $ 284,000). "It's the price of a Ferrari," said Xia Yongtao, the company's vice president.

According to Xia, in order to get the present success, the Kaluga Queen had to go through a hard way to win customers' trust. Chinese caviar has to overcome the skepticism of foreign customers after food scandals such as dirty milk powder, arsenic soy sauce, or cadmium-contaminated rice.

"A few years ago, customers were hesitant whenever we talked about Chinese caviar," said Raphael Bouchez, president of Kaviari, supplier of caviar to major restaurants in Paris. "But to say, Chinese caviar is very good. However, some chefs like caviar from France, Uruguay or anywhere other than China."

Currently, the annual revenue of the Kaluga Queen reaches 220 million yuan (more than 31 million USD). Chinese caviar now appears on the first class of Lufthansa, the famous German airline, or in the 2-star Michelin restaurant L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Shanghai.

According to vice president Xia, the distributors have brought Kaluga Queen caviar to many restaurants around the world. One of them said he used to deliver a shipment to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Guy Savoy, a world-renowned chef now working at a 3-star Michelin restaurant in Paris, also uses Chinese caviar for his dishes. "Made in China is not a problem. It is important in its quality. And the products we provide today are of outstanding quality," Savoy said.

Lily Liu, sales director of the Kaluga Queen, hopes the US president will try the caviar. "We hope President Donald Trump will taste our caviar and say 'I like it. Please lower taxes so that Chinese caviar can conquer the US market.'"