If it is boiled water, you need to boil the water first, and then steam the hairy crabs in the pot, which usually takes 12- 15 minutes. In this case, the steaming time will be shorter, but the maturity will be more uniform and the crab meat will be tender.
If you use cold water, it will be more worry-free, but the steaming time needs to be longer, because the water should be boiled from cold water to boiling water, and then steamed for about 20 minutes.
So hairy crabs can be steamed with boiling water or cold water. However, in most cases, it is steamed with cold water, which is more convenient and convenient. If the hairy crabs are not tied with crab feet, then cold water must be used, otherwise they will be steamed on hot water, and the crab feet will fall off before they die.
Tips for steaming hairy crabs
Don't put the hairy crabs directly into the pot. The extra step is to insert a toothpick in the hairy crab's mouth first, so that it will be in suspended animation, so that the hairy crab will not move, and it can also prevent the leg from falling off during steaming.
Different from other ingredients, when steaming hairy crabs, the way of placing them is very particular. Be sure to put your stomach up and the crab shell down, so that the hairy crabs can be heated evenly. At the same time, cooked hairy crabs are not easy to leak crab roe or crab paste. Many people didn't notice this when steaming hairy crabs. As a result, crab roe keeps flowing out, and all the good things are wasted.