Crab cold water steaming is usually fifteen minutes to twenty minutes time can eat. The crabs will be washed, belly up and set up. Then hurry to cover the lid of the pot, large fire until the water boils about two minutes to turn small fire for about 15 minutes, steam must be cleaned, to steam.

Crab is rich in protein and trace elements, the body has a good nourishing effect. Crab contains more vitamin A, keratinization of the skin is helpful. Crab also has an anti-tuberculosis effect, eating crab on the recovery of tuberculosis is greatly beneficial.

Since ancient times, crab is a very delicious food, the Eastern Han Zheng Xuan note "Zhou Li - Heavenly Officials - Butcher": "Recommended shy of the things called the four times of the meal, such as fish in Jingzhou, Qingzhou crab Xu." Xu Shen "Shuowen Jiezi" said: "Xu, crab minced meat also (minced meat, meat sauce)." East Han Guo Xian wrote the "Han Wu Dong Hai record" Volume 3 has: "Good Garden country tasted a tribute to a crab, nine feet long, there are a hundred feet and four chelae, because of the name of the hundred-foot crab. Cooking its shell is better than the yellow gum, also known as the chela gum, better than the phoenix beak of the gum also." "Taiping Yuban" cited "Lingnan foreign objects Zhi" cloud: "tasted the sea to get the state islets, forests and trees are very lush, is the Vi boat climbed the cliffs, tied to the water side, half cooking and the forest is not in the water, its cable suddenly broken, was to go, detailed view, large crab."

Sui Emperor Yang to crab for food first. Qing Yi Records" records: "Emperor Yang Xing Jiangdu, Wuzhong Tribute bad crab, sugar crab. Each into the Royal, then on the spinning clean wipe shell surface, to gold skeleton dragon and phoenix flower cloud paste on it." Song and Yuan dynasties popular eating "hand-washing crab", is to salt, wine, orange peel, peppercorns and other seasonings marinated. Zhu Yizun "food constitution Hong secret" recorded "crab balls" recipe. Liu Ruoyu "Ming Palace History" recorded in the Palace of the crab feast said: "Where the Palace family ministers eat crab, live cleaned, steamed with a bag, five or six into groups, sitting **** food, laughing and joking. Since the umbilical cord cover, carefully picked with nails, dipped in vinegar and garlic to wine. Or pick the sternum, eight complete as a butterfly style, to show the skill." Li Yu addicted to eating crabs, known as "Crab Fairy", once said: "All crab eaters, only the whole of its old body steamed and eaten ...... into the mouth is really tender and delicate" "Crab's fresh and fat, sweet and greasy, white like jade and yellow like gold, has been made color and flavor of the three of the ultimate, and nothing more can be on the... ...Only in the crab chela a thing, the heart can be addicted to, the mouth can be sweet, no matter the life of a day can not forget it." Yuan Mei's Yuan Mei's "With the Garden Food List" recorded that "Crab should be eaten alone, not with other things. It is best to cook it in light salt soup, and it is better to peel and eat it by itself. Steamed crabs have a full flavor, but are too bland." In the Qianjia period, Gu Lu's "Qingjia Records" introduced crabs in Suzhou, including lake crabs from Taihu Lake, purple-bearded crabs from Fenhu Lake in Wujiang, and gold-clawed crabs from Changshu. Some chefs use Crustastun to electrocute the crabs to reduce their pain.

Crab is rich in protein, has high cholesterol, high purine, gout patients should self-restraint when eating, suffering from colds, hepatitis, cardiovascular disease should not eat crab. China has a tradition of eating river crabs before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival, because traditionally, Chinese medicine believes that the crab is cold, it is often used ginger, perilla and other configurations of edible crabs using seasonings.

Crab-eating culture

Crab-eating as a kind of leisure and cultural enjoyment, but from the Wei and Jin Dynasties. According to the Shishu Xinyun (New Sayings of the World). Ren Tan" records, Jin Bi Zhuo (word Mao Shi) wine, said: "the right hand holding a wine cup, the left hand holding a crab chelipse, beat floating wine boat, will be enough to carry on for a lifetime." This outlook on life and diet affects many people. Since then, people eat crabs, drinking wine, chrysanthemums, poetry, as a golden autumn affair, and gradually developed into a gathering of friends and relatives, laughing and eating crabs, which is the "crab feast".

Speaking of "crab feast", it will certainly be associated with the "Dream of the Red Chamber" in an interesting and lively scene. The novel first wrote Li danwei and phoenix sister serving Jia mother, Xue aunt peeling crab meat, and instructed the maid to take chrysanthemum leaves cinnamon pistil smoked mung bean face to, ready to wash their hands. At this time, mandarin ducks, amber, colorful Xia to replace Phoenix. Are laughing and teasing, Ping'er to take fishy hands to wipe Amber's face, but by Amber to avoid, the result is just smeared in the face of Sister Feng, causing everyone to laugh. Next, eating crab after party program began, also have to look at flowers, also have to make water to see fish, Baoyu proposed: "Let's do poetry." So we eat and drink, while choosing the topic, the first chrysanthemum poem, and finally satirize the crab aria, each talent algae, masterpiece after masterpiece. Among them, Xue Baochai's aria crab uniform cloud:

Gui mist Tongyin sitting in the goblet, Chang'an salivation mouth looking forward to the sun.

But the vivid depiction of the crab feast is not Cao Xueqin's original creation. Before this, "Jin Ping Mei" in the crab feast, but the tone is very different. In the 35th episode of the book, it is written that Li Baili and Big Sister came and all the people ate crabs around them. Yue Niang instructed Xiaoyu: "There is still some wine in the house, sieve to eat with your mother each (they)." Jinlian was fast-talking and said: "To eat crabs, I need some Jinhua wine." Also said: "only just a flavor of crabs to eat". Although also lively and interesting, after all, is the marketplace mundane, no Grand View Garden in the charm. The Golden Lotus writes crab feast, in fact, is also a reflection of real life. We have read accounts of crab feasts in the writings of the Ming Dynasty.

Liu Ruoyu "Ming Palace History" recorded in the Ming court crab feast, is another pattern: "(August) began to make new wine, crab began to fat. Where the palace family ministers to eat crab, live cleaned, steamed with bushel color, five or six groups, save sitting **** food, laughing and joking. Since the umbilical cord cover, carefully picked with nails, dipped in vinegar and garlic to wine. Or pick the crab sternum, eight complete as a butterfly style, to show skill. After eating, drink Su Ye soup, wash hands with Su Ye and other pieces, for the event." One of the one hundred lyrics of the Tianqi Palace, there is a poem that records the event, saying: "Begonia flowers are quiet, and the purple crabs are fat before the feast this night. Jade bamboo shoots Su soup light wash, laughing at the butterflies flying all over the plate."