Chinese people have shown great enthusiasm for eating since ancient times. Everything that flies in the sky, runs on the ground, and swims in the water has been incorporated into Chinese recipes, including delicacies from mountains and seas. Bird's nest, shark's fin, bear's paw and abalone are all masterpieces left by the sages of the past dynasties. Looking around the world, only the Chinese can develop and cook such a gluttonous feast as the Manchu-Han Banquet. When it comes to eating, the Chinese are extremely talented.
In our recipes, there is such a kind of delicacy, which comes and goes with time, and is renewed every year. No matter rich or poor, men, women, old or young, people flock to it, that is Seasonal delicacies. They are products from mountains, rivers and lakes and are gifts from nature.
In spring, the pufferfish is the most beautiful, the bamboo shoots are the tenderest, and wild vegetables and spring buds are all on display; in summer, crayfish are hot, barbecue stalls are everywhere, and fruits, pears, and peaches are fragrant everywhere; in autumn, fish and shrimp are plump, and mushrooms are delicious. The crops are ripe and the warehouses are full; in winter, various aquatic products are the protagonists, and a sumptuous New Year’s Eve dinner has everything.
In a sense, the Chinese have followed the footsteps of delicious food with the changes of the four seasons, from ancient times to the present.
The Jiangnan area has crisscrossed rivers and numerous lakes. It is a famous land of fish and rice in the country. The unique terrain breeds rich aquatic products. When the golden breeze blows coolly and the chrysanthemums bloom, a lake delicacy that people miss most - hairy crabs , has reached the peak season for listing.
Hairy crab, scientifically known as Chinese mitten crab, is a freshwater crab with two crab claws with black and gray hairs. It is mainly produced in the vast waters of Jiangsu, such as Taihu Lake, Hongze Lake, and Gucheng Lake. , Yangcheng Lake, etc., among which Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs are particularly famous.
As the saying goes: "When the autumn wind blows, crabs' legs are itchy, and their navel is round in September and sharp in October." This sentence means that autumn is the season for eating hairy crabs, and female crabs are the most beautiful in September of the lunar calendar. The roe of female crabs at this time is golden yellow, bright and full; the male crabs are the fattest in October of the lunar calendar, and the crab paste of male crabs at this time is as white as jade and is plump and rich. Hairy crabs in autumn are a rare delicacy.
The traditional crab season only lasts for more than two months. During this period, the aquatic products market is booming and crowded. Well-known restaurants and crab restaurants are full of diners. Hairy crabs can be seen everywhere in the market and on the dining table. In the shadow of the crab, eating crabs during the crab season is the most solemn and pleasant thing in autumn.
If you don’t eat crabs a few times a year, you will be wasting this rare autumn and this tempting delicacy.
When it comes to how to prepare hairy crabs, local people who are well versed in cooking skills advocate the simple way of steaming. This is the best way to eat crabs without losing their original flavor. When steaming crabs, put the hairy crabs into the basket, add a little ginger and rice wine to the water, and in just a quarter of an hour, the orange-red hairy crabs will be ready with bursts of aroma.
The delicacy praised by the Chinese as the most delicious in the world is hidden in the crab shell. The hairy crab meat is firm and smooth, with a sweet taste. The golden and shiny crab roe and the milky white sticky crab paste are even more fragrant and leave you with an endless aftertaste.
Gourmet Shen Hongfei has a criterion for judging the quality of hairy crabs: after eating the best crabs, your fingers will be stained, and even if you wash them repeatedly, the smell will not go away for several days. At the same time, he also proposed a principle for eating crabs, that is, not eating other foods after eating hairy crabs.
Hairy crabs are born in nature and grow in nature. They have strong bodies and well-developed muscles. They feed on natural aquatic plants and small fish and shrimps. When hunting, they can walk quickly among the gravels at the bottom of the lake and grow in this environment. The hairy crabs are destined to taste delicious. After eating crabs, the delicious aroma of hairy crabs will remain in your mouth, and other foods will naturally be bland. As the saying goes, "one crab on the table will taste bland".
In our country, crab-eating has a history of more than 3,000 years. From ancient times to the present, crabs have played an important role on the Chinese dining table. Due to the cumbersomeness of crab-eating, in the Ming Dynasty, skilled craftsmen produced a set of exquisite crab-eating tools, such as hammer, pliers, shovel, fork, needle, etc., which were called "eight pieces of crab". "Eight pieces", clever diners can piece together the finished crabs into a whole crab without realizing that it is empty inside. Since the advent of tools, crab-eating has become more popular.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the way of eating hairy crabs was divided into "Wu Chi" and "Wen Chi". "Wu Chi" refers to the way common people eat, a mouthful of wine, a mouthful of crab, and a feast; " "Eating with style" is a unique and elegant behavior of literati. During the golden autumn season, friends gather together to taste crabs, drink wine, appreciate osmanthus, and recite poems. The process of eating crabs becomes an elegant and unrestrained dining enjoyment, full of fun and beauty. . Literati and refined scholars pushed China's crab-eating culture to its peak.
In "A Dream of Red Mansions", one of the four famous novels, there is a vivid and detailed description of eating hairy crabs.
When Zhen Shiyin hosted a banquet for Jia Yucun during the Mid-Autumn Festival for the first time, although the original work only used the sentence "Needless to say about the fine wine and delicious food", in the 1987 version of the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions", director Wang Fulin included this The first scene was put on the screen, and the scene of literati eating crabs was reproduced for the first time on TV. The finale of the banquet was hairy crabs. As Zhen Shiyin slowly pried open the crab shell, the golden and shiny crab roe jumped into view instantly, making people salivate and attract countless fans instantly.
In the thirty-eighth chapter, the author tells a crab chant in a rich and colorful way. At that time, Xue Baochai invited the female family members of the Jia family to eat crabs in the Grand View Garden. The family drank, talked and laughed happily.
When the wine was full of wine, Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai each composed a crab chant. Jia Baoyu even wrote the poem "holding the claws prefers the coolness of the osmanthus, pouring vinegar to beat the ginger to make people crazy", which is suitable for the occasion and the scene. It's so powerful. When I read it now, the scene of everyone eating crabs seems to be right in front of me.
Throughout the ages, as a seasonal delicacy, hairy crabs have fascinated countless diners with their unique deliciousness. They have also been sought after by princes, nobles and literati throughout the ages. They drink wine with crabs and recite poems and have fun. Isn’t it wonderful?
Li Bai wrote a poem praising hairy crabs and said: "The claws of crabs are gold liquid, and the hills are Penglai. You must drink fine wine and get drunk on the high platform by the moon." Holding wine and holding crabs, what is life like? The heroic spirit of Shixian can be seen clearly. Lu You's poem is more subtle, "The crab fat is temporarily broken, and the saliva falls, and the wine is green and the old eyes are bright." After eating crabs and drinking, the poet's joy is beyond words, and the dim old eyes suddenly become brighter. Zhang Taiyan's wife, Ms. Tang Guoli, even said frankly: "If Yangcheng crabs were not delicious, why would they live in Suzhou in this life."
Nowadays, crab-eating is no longer the exclusive preserve of the powerful and nobles. The common people have become an important consumer group of hairy crabs. Although there are no poems and songs in the exchange of cups and cups, it is still an important way to eat crabs. As a carrier of emotional communication, hairy crabs still have a noble status in banquets. People always regard hairy crabs as treasures and are intoxicated by the wonderful experience that hairy crabs bring to their taste buds, unable to extricate themselves.
People often use the phrase "eat the heart of a bear and the guts of a leopard" to describe a person's courage and courage. In the same vein, eating hairy crabs also has this meaning.
This overlord in the water, wielding two large pincers, is rampant and arrogant in its world. Look at those people around us who have eaten hairy crabs. Their faces are full of joy and their eyes are bright. Even when they walk, they look more heroic and domineering. Presumably, they will also bring this kind of pride to work and life. In the middle, wherever one's ability reaches, he is invincible.