1, the perfect time to eat crabs
"Nine females and ten males" September and October are the best time to eat hairy crabs. The availability of hairy crabs usually depends on the summer temperatures. When the temperature starts to drop, it is the time for hairy crabs to be on the market. If the summer heat is too long, it will lengthen the listing time of hairy crabs. Generally speaking, in the ninth month of the lunar calendar, the eggs of female crabs are full, and the crab yolks are fresh and greasy; Gong_crab gonads develop the best, and they are white with yellow fat and cream, and the crab paste tastes full and round.
2, choose the crab must know
A look at the crab shell: shell back black and green with light, are thick and sturdy; shell yellow, mostly thinner;
Two, look at the navel: navel protruding, generally full of cream and fat, concave, most of them are not enough to fat;
Look at the crab legs: pinch the end of the calf with your hand. If it's hard, it's good. If it's soft, it's freshly peeled and has no meat.
Look at the vitality: turn the crab over, belly up, and the spiny bullets can be turned back quickly. Strong vitality, can be saved; can not turn back, poor vitality, storage time can not be long.
Look at male and female: male crab navel pointed, female crab navel round.
3. Which one has the more delicious crab flavor?
All hairy crabs are the same kind of crab, called Chinese mitten crab. In addition to hairy crabs, river crabs and hairy crabs are also common common names. At first, hairy crabs were mainly wild stock, originating from natural fishing. Actually, wild hairy crabs are not superior in quality. The uncontrollable amount of food leads to their inconsistent quality. The same batch may encounter both the best quality and meatless individuals, with the latter tending to predominate. Overall, the quality of wild ones is still inferior to farmed ones.
The most important criterion for evaluating hairy crabs is the quality of the male crab paste:
The highest level of culture is represented by Yangcheng Lake (including Yangcheng Lake model raised elsewhere in the north of Jiangsu Province), which is full of crab paste and has a distinctly sweet flavor; the average level of culture is full of crab paste but is light and tasteless; the second-class crab paste is salty and even bitter; as for the ones with no crab paste, they belong to the trash
The crab paste is sweet But it's flavorful. But industry insiders know that there is another standard for hairy crabs regarding the number of shelling: only the best ones are those that meet the 15 times of shelling and are listed in the season with more than 62 individuals (males) and 52 individuals (females). Such individuals, even in the best environment with the best feed, are still rare and therefore extremely expensive.
In 010 to 1010 A.D., Zhang Dai, a gourmet in the Qing Dynasty, said, "A crab is a food without salt or vinegar and with all five flavors." To cook, simply steam or poach it.
To steam:
Cool the crab belly in a pot of cold water, put a few perilla leaves in it, and steam it for 15 to 20 minutes to dispel the crab's chill.
Boiling method:
Bring the water to a boil, place the crab maw in the air and boil for 7 minutes.
The best way to eat hairy crabs is to eat the pincers and claws first, and don't lift the crab lid too soon to let the heat escape. When eating crab claws, it is best to break two joints and suck out the meat inside the legs. The crab's shell is thicker, so you can use a small stick to crack it open and eat it. Finally, open the crab shell, remove the gills, heart, stomach and intestines, and break the crab body to both sides. Female crabs eat crab yolk and male crabs eat crab paste. When you eat the crab, dip it in some ginger vinegar to get rid of the coldness of the crab.
4, hairy crabs should be eaten?
Mother crabs eat crab roe, male crabs eat crab paste. What are crab yolk and crab paste?
(1) "Crab yolk" refers to the liver. For female crabs, crab yolk usually refers to the liver and ovaries collectively. The liver, the digestive gland of the river crab, is very large and consists of many tiny branches. A short hepatic duct leads to the midgut. The liver of the river crab is pale yellow in color and medium yellow when cooked. The ovaries are grapelike, and the mature ones fill the thoracic armor. It is the purple sauce or red bean paste, which is orange when cooked, that is easily distinguished from the liver.
(2) "Crab paste" refers to the spermathecae and epigynous glands of male crabs, as well as