Gourmands are salivating as the season for eating legendary hairy crab is upon us. Tan Weiyun explains how to tell the "real" crabs from the fakes, how to cook them and how to eat the Shanghai delicacy.

It's that time of the year again. Time for hairy crab gourmands who have waited longingly for 10 long months to finally dig in, crack, suck, slurp and savor the delicate meat, the roe and the gao of the celebrated crustaceans.

For almost two centuries, it has been a sacred rite and late-autumn ritual for nearly every Shanghai family to eat da zha xie, or hairy crabs when the cold, crisp autumn winds pick up. They are traditionally washed down with huang jiu, or rich yellow wine, such as Shaoxing wine.

The best known and marketed are the Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, the Rolls Royce and the Vidalia onion of the freshwater crab world. They mature between October and November and are harvested from the lake northeast of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province. Crabs from the eastern part of the lake are said to be the best.

Other lakes in the area also produce delicious hairy crabs because they have geological and ecological characteristics similar to Yangcheng Lake, but the crab growers of Yangcheng Lake win the gold medal for marketing. Genuine Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs cost more than other tasty hairy crabs.

There's a famous old saying in Shanghai, "When the northwest wind blows, then the crabs are perfect for eating."

These feisty freshwater crabs equipped with two large pincers are also known as "mitten crabs" for the hair on their claws and legs.

"Yangcheng Lake enjoys a unique habitat. Enough sunshine, rich water resources, plentiful minerals and trace elements. Everything is just right for crab growing," says Yang Weilong, director of the Jiangsu Province Hairy Crab Association. "The lake's favorable environment makes its crabs so different from others."

 

So different, they say, that in the interests of authenticity - and profit - growers affix metal tags to the crabs or etch a number on the shells. The numbers can be checked by telephone, SMS or e-mail.

Prices are high. One five-star hotel charges 238 yuan, almost US$32, per Yangcheng Lake crab. On the market, however, prices range from just 20 yuan for a tiny crab to around 160 yuan for a big one. Especially big crabs cost even more.

Next year the prices for Yangcheng Lake crabs will go up sharply as the growing area there is reduced to ensure quality and protect water resources.

As part of the East China Sea estuary, Yangcheng Lake has a special crab-friendly environment - clean, shallow, sun-drenched waters that promote the growth of the food the crabs like to eat; the hardpan lake bottom with iron-rich clay compels the crabs to move about to feed. This forces them to develop their muscular and robust legs. The iron and trace minerals give the dense crab meat a delicate, slightly sweet flavor.

Very quickly, Yangcheng Lake crab gained fame for what gourmands call "the finest and purest flavor of the entire crab spectrum."

"The taste of the Yangcheng Lake crab is special if you savor it carefully. It's a little bit sweet. Actually, the vegetables, such as carrots and cabbage planted around the lake, even poultry eggs, are also slightly sweet," Yang says. "It's due to the rich minerals in the lake."

However, he also notes that different parts of Yangcheng Lake produce crabs of different quality. "The best crabs are all from the eastern part of the lake, where the water is only two meters deep with plentiful aquatic resources and bountiful small fishes and shrimps."

The town of Weitang on the east side of Yangcheng Lake has a history of more than 6,000 years and draws hordes of crab-lovers every autumn. "It's hard to estimate but the figure is huge, and I'm pretty sure the big part is from its rich neighbor, Shanghai."

Yang says about 2,200 tons of crabs were ordered from all parts of the country this September. The order from Shanghai alone reached 500 tons - almost one quarter.

But there's bad news, and good, for gourmands. The number of "authentic" Yangcheng Lake crabs will drop next year, and the price will rise. Growers say that to ensure quality and protect water resources, the crab-raising area in Yangcheng Lake will be reduced from the current 53 square kilometers to 21 square kilometers.

Yang says that's good news for quality. Prices this year are relatively low because the market is swamped with crabs from Yangcheng and other lakes. Growers, obviously, would like to see higher prices, and they will go up as the supply falls, so this autumn will probably be the last time to enjoy the pricey crabs at a relatively affordable price.

How to tell real from 'fake' crabs

"The market is full of fake Yangcheng Lake crabs," says Yang Weilong, director of the Jiangsu Province Harry Crab Association. "With so many counterfeit crabs around, it is very important for customers to know how to choose the authentic ones."

Many are tagged, many others carry laser-etched ID numbers. That helps, but there are other ways to tell a bona fide hairy crab from a bogus one, tag or no tag.

Check for its golden hair, white bottom, green-gray shell and the yellowish tint on its claw-tips resulting from the iron-rich soil in the lake bottom - the tint is the most distinctive feature of Yangcheng Lake crabs. Females have an underside that is one round or oval piece, while the males have a two-piece underside, with a triangular-shaped inset.

See how it moves. It should be fast. If it's an authentic Yangcheng Lake crab, it will move right away, and quickly because of its robust, strong leg muscles that have been developed from moving on the hard bottom of Yangcheng Lake.

Provoke it. By touching its eyes or slightly tugging its legs, a real Yangcheng Lake crab fights back fast with its pincers after your attack.

Turn it upside down - this is the most popular and practical way: If it can turn its body over swiftly without any difficulty, the crab must be authentic - a sign of its athleticism.

Look for tags. Many Yangcheng Lake fisheries use laser imprinters on each crab's shell, etching an ID number. Buyers can verify the number by phone, short message and e-mail. Others are tagged.

Note: If it comes from a lake with a similar habitat, a good non-Yangcheng Lake hairy crab should meet these tests.

How to cook and serve

Authentic or not, a hairy crab has no way to escape its destiny: to end up on the dinner or banquet table, and then in your stomach.

There are dozens of ways to cook a crab. It can be boiled, fried, braised and sauted with pork, mushrooms, tea leaves or seafood. But the most famous and favored cooking method, the one that drives Shanghainese crab-lovers crazy, is simple: just steam the crab with ginger and herbs. Serve with dark rice vinegar, a trace of sugar and minced ginger.

The crab's legs should be tied with strong twine. It should be flipped on its back for a while so that its shell collects the delicious roe and the gao of the males, a glutinous whitish substance. Then it should be tossed into a pot of boiling water, steamed alive.

After about 20 minutes in boiling water, the crab turns to a gorgeous shade of tangerine, then it's time to roll up your sleeves to savor the delicacy.

And now, dig in

Many people find it quite complicated, tedious and messy to eat a crab: Sometimes little hammers and special implements are used to crack the large claws and withdraw the tasty flesh.

However, for a Shanghainese, 10 fingers and a pair of chopsticks are the best crab-eating tools.

First, take off the shell. The yellow fat and thick reddish roe of female crabs is underneath. October is the best month to eat female crab for its extra roe that makes the crab so tasty - and that gourmands live and die for. Crabs are harvested before they swim out to the ocean to mate. November is the time to eat males for their gao, which is under the "lid" or shell.

Then pull the crab apart. After eating the roe, gao and the yellow fat, pull off the legs. Replace the shell to keep the body warm.

Eat the legs first. You can either use a chopstick to push out the white, sweet and fragrant meat or suck it out, as most locals do. The leg shells may need to be cracked. The process can be laborious but it's rewarding.

Then, eat the body, after removing the inedible parts, the cellulose-like gills. The body is segmented with very thin shells, so you need to patiently dig out the meat with chopsticks, or other implements.

Note: The meat is delicious, but don't eat too much. According to traditional Chinese medicine, crab is "cold" or yin, so when eating crab, it's best to drink rice wine, which is "hot" or yang, to balance the energy in the body.