"Autumn wind, crab feet itch, sorghum red, crab fat", every year to the fall when the weather is cool, it is the annual season to eat crab. Now on the market to sell the crab in accordance with the different growth environment, mainly divided into freshwater crab and saltwater crab, Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day period, it is also the time to taste these crabs delicious, especially the festive banquet table crabs have become a big dish. So, do you know how toxic dead hairy crabs are? Can you eat dead crabs or not? What are the precautions for eating fall crabs? Next we will be specific to understand it.
A, dead hairy crab how toxic?
Hairy crabs, as one of the delicacies on the Chinese table, have a long history and unique flavor. However, in recent years, a number of rumors and misconceptions have accompanied this delicious ingredient. One of the rather striking claims is: "How poisonous dead hairy crabs are, and you can't eat crabs that have just died for a minute, they are all poisonous." ?
First, let's clarify the question about whether hairy crabs are poisonous. Hairy crabs do not become highly poisonous within a minute of just dying. This statement is a misconception that may have originated from people's misunderstanding of the survival state of crabs. In fact, the freshness of crabs is crucial to their safety for consumption, but there is no question of toxicity. The reason why hairy crabs should not be consumed if they have just died is that the enzymes in the crab's body break down rapidly, resulting in a poorer taste after consumption.
The freshness of hairy crabs is one of the key factors in ensuring their safety for consumption and flavor. When a crab is freshly dead, the enzymatic breakdown will accelerate and the tissues within the crab will begin to deteriorate and become no longer fit for consumption. This is why many people recommend cooking crabs as soon as possible after they have just died to preserve their freshness and flavor. However, this does not equate to crabs being poisonous.
The claim about whether hairy crabs are poisonous is not an empty one, and it may involve the environment in which they live. Hairy crabs live in water, and their diet and living environment may be threatened by pollution. In some cases, hairy crabs may have absorbed harmful substances, so it is vital to ensure that the water from which the crabs are sourced is clean. Choosing reputable suppliers and markets to ensure that the hairy crabs you consume are safe is an important way to guard against potential risks.
However, rather than worrying about whether or not hairy crabs are poisonous,it's more important to handle and cook this delicious ingredient correctly. Hairy crabs can be cooked in a variety of ways, each with its own unique characteristics. For example, steamed hairy crabs with green onion, ginger and garlic, marinated hairy crabs with sweet and sour vinegar, stir-fried hairy crabs with chili peppers and various other ways to show off the deliciousness of hairy crabs. However, whichever cooking method you choose, care needs to be taken to ensure that the crabs are fully cooked to kill potential bacteria and parasites, thus ensuring safety for consumption.
2. Can I eat dead crabs or not? What are the circumstances under which it can be eaten?
Generally speaking, it is not recommended to eat.
1, first of all, we have to understand why can not eat after the death of the crab?
1) Corruption and deterioration
River crabs such as hairy crabs are more prone to corruption and deterioration after death. Because the digestive glands of river crabs rupture when they die, the bacteria they carry and the bacteria in the environment become active very quickly, causing it to rot and spoil.
Trimethylamine oxide, which is one of the sources of freshness in crabs, will decompose to produce trimethylamine and dimethylamine, which will produce a fishy odor as a direct result, and in large quantities can also poison people. Amino acids in crab meat are also easily broken down by bacteria, and some of them may produce hydrogen sulfide, creating the famous "rotten egg" odor.
The fats in crab yolk and cream are also easily oxidized and decomposed, producing a variety of unpleasant "harry smells," which is why many people may feel an odor. So, the first thing that crabs lose when they die is their freshness and flavor, which makes them unpalatable.
2) Pathogenic bacteria contamination
The most common and troublesome aquatic fish is Vibrio parahaemolyticus.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the most common foodborne pathogen in the coastal areas of our country, widely present in near-shore seawater, seabed sediments and fish and shellfish and other seafood. It is a salt-loving bacterium that can also grow and reproduce happily in seawater. So, seafood can also be contaminated with this bacteria.
The main contaminated foodstuffs of Vibrio parahaemolyticus are seafoods, including fish, mollusks (e.g., oysters, cuttlefish, octopus), and shellfish (e.g., lobsters, shrimps, crabs). Vibrio parahaemolyticus is recognized worldwide as the causative agent of seafood. Once seafood infected by Vibrio parahaemolyticus is consumed, acute gastroenteritis followed by nausea, vomiting, chills and fever may occur. Abdominal pain is mostly characterized by severe epigastric cramps.
3) produce histamine
In addition to corruption and spoilage, expiration date may also produce harmful substances, here is the most need to worry about histamine.
Aquatic fish generally contain histidine, especially tuna, sardines, swordfish, skipjack tuna in high content. Once not fresh or improperly stored, histidine can be converted into histamine by bacteria, leading to allergies in some people. If too much histamine is produced, it can also cause histamine poisoning.
If histamine poisoning occurs, the patient in a few minutes to a few hours after eating fish will appear face, chest and the whole body skin flushing, hot feeling, general discomfort, conjunctival congestion, and so on, and accompanied by headache, dizziness, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, tachycardia, chest tightness, blood pressure drop, etc., and sometimes also triggered hives, burning sensation of the throat, and individual patients may also develop asthma.
2, which cases of dead crabs can still eat?
If the bacteria do not rapidly reproduce in the environment, or do not reproduce enough time, the crab is still fresh and can be eaten. In fact, the dead crabs can not eat the main or sub-species, general freshwater crabs dead is determined not to eat, and saltwater crabs some as long as it is just dead, or is the ocean fishing, preservation technology is over the food. We usually eat sea crabs in the supermarket can generally buy dead crabs, even in coastal cities, supermarkets, dead sea crabs will be refrigerated discount sale. Sea crabs due to long-term life in seawater, dead quickly refrigerated or caught up on the cold chain transported to the field for sale in general will not deteriorate. As long as there is no odor, you can eat it. (Because bacteria reproduce at a much slower rate under refrigeration and with salt.)
Freshwater crabs such as hairy crabs are generally inedible after death. But there are cases:
(1) For example, if you get a crab that was alive when you got it, and it dies after you cook it, or if it crawls out of the pot and falls to its death while you're cooking it. This kind of vitality would have been very strong crab due to a variety of reasons for unnatural death. They were killed by a courier, killed by a child playing with them, killed by crawling around, and killed by a person slapping the crab to death in a fit of rage after being pinched. These are all edible (bacteria can't reproduce in time to be killed in the cooking process)
(2) After receiving the hairy crabs, the crabs have no vitality and feel like they are going to die soon. This kind of crabs are generally edible, and most of the time, the crabs are not alive because they are frozen unconscious.
(3) After receiving the crabs, the crabs are dead (make sure they are not in freezing shock). If the ice water inside the delivery box hasn't melted, you can eat the crab after cooking to make sure the crab intestines aren't ruptured. (Bacteria reproduce much less quickly at low temperatures)
(4) The crab is not dead, but dying. After cooking the crab meat is also not full, empty, taste like chewing wax, is not edible. This crab itself is not strong resistance, the general crab intestine are broken but still tenacious dying struggle. This kind of natural conditions of death or dying crabs, generally can not eat. Sellers usually do not send out this kind of crabs, because dead crabs have to pay.
(5) In other cases, such as hairy crabs that have been dead for more than 3 hours at room temperature (20 degrees Celsius), resolutely do not eat them again. Eating crabs that have been dead for a long time may lead to shock or even death in severe cases.
Three, what are the precautions for eating fall crabs?
1, pay attention to the food and people with crab
Crab itself is cold food, so eat crab must be with ginger, that is, chopped ginger and pour balsamic vinegar, boiled crab dipped in ginger to eat, so you can remove a part of the crab's cold. People who like to drink can use crab with white or yellow wine, alcohol also has the effect of sterilization and remove the cold, so many people like to eat crab with some wine.
At the same time, it is not suitable for people with cold stomach and cold hands and feet. Moreover, crab contains high protein, crab yolk, crab paste in high cholesterol content, therefore, gallstones, hypertension, high blood pressure, high blood fat, coronary heart disease, arteriosclerosis, fatty liver people are not suitable for consumption. Pregnant women and children should eat less in moderation to avoid discomfort. Colds, fever, stomach problems, diarrhea do not eat crab, otherwise it will exacerbate the condition?
2, crabs must be cooked and boiled through
While eating raw pickled crabs and drunken crabs are more popular in many places, but most people eat crabs are best cooked and boiled through after eating, especially avoid eating half-baked crabs.
When steaming crabs, in order to prevent the legs from falling off, you can use chopsticks to stick them in along the crab's mouth, and then steam them after they are dead. When steaming crabs, it is best to place a piece of ginger in the umbilicus with the belly facing up, and time the pot after it has been vaporized, generally crabs around three taels take about 10 minutes, and larger crabs no less than 15 minutes. As for the pike crab steamed after the fire is not mastered will become thin, this is purely rumor, river crabs may be improperly steamed because of the leakage of yellow or leakage of paste, but the sea crabs will not appear in this case, it can only be sea crabs to buy not fat enough.
3, crab preservation
Freshwater crabs are best eaten at one time after purchase, if consumption is not complete, you can use a wet towel soaked in water to cover the crabs in the refrigerator freezer, but as soon as possible to consume the end.
Sea crabs should be cooked while they are still fresh, and if you want to keep them, you can use a plastic bag to put the cooked crabs in, and then put them in the freezer to keep them frozen, but you should finish them in time after they are frozen, and not leave them at room temperature for too long.
4, eat crabs can only eat meat, paste, yellow
Because the crab in the rivers and lakes, to plankton and plants for food and like to crawl in the sand, so the crab gills, intestines contain a lot of mud and sand spoils, eat must be removed, and can only be taken to the crab meat, crab paste, crab yellow food.
Tips: For those who suffer from coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, high blood fat, arteriosclerosis, it is recommended to eat less crab and can not eat crab yolk and crab paste.
5, should not be eaten with tea
Eating crab and crab within an hour after eating tea. Because boiling water will dilute the stomach acid, tea to make certain components of the crab coagulation, are not conducive to digestion and absorption, may also cause abdominal pain found.
6, should not eat with persimmons
Crab fat is persimmon ripe, should pay attention to avoid crab and persimmons mixed. Because persimmons in the tannic acid and other ingredients will make the crab meat protein coagulation, coagulation material for a long time to stay in the intestinal tract will be fermentation and corruption, causing vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
7, after eating crabs to do drink ginger soup to wash hands
After eating crabs, if possible, it is recommended to drink a bowl of ginger and brown sugar soup to warm the stomach. In addition, because after eating crabs hands will have a crab-specific fishy flavor, generally we will burn a bowl of warm water with chrysanthemums or cilantro boiled to wash hands to go fishy.
Personal experience: Crab does taste delicious, and now is the season to eat crab, dead crabs can not eat, mainly refers to freshwater crabs, but sea crabs dead should be careful to buy, it is best to eat fresh live better. In short, if you think it smells and tastes not fresh, even if it's dying and alive, don't eat it. If you can be sure that it is "not long after death", and there is no obvious odor, from the point of view of safety, usually can be eaten, and will not be very harmful. If you are not sure how long it has been dead, do not buy crabs that have been dead in outside markets, restaurants or supermarkets. Buy home live crabs and cook and eat them as soon as possible, eating them while they are fresh and tasty; leave them at home, even if they are not dead, the flavor will be lost. Meanwhile, you should pay more attention to some precautions when eating crabs, and if you have any special circumstances or concerns, it is recommended that you consult a professional doctor or dietitian for advice.