1, appearance characteristics
To choose a good hairy crab, we need to start with the appearance characteristics first. A fresh and robust hairy crab usually has the following characteristics.
The first is the color of crab shells. Excellent hairy crab shells are bright in color, bright red or orange-red, and even and shiny in color. In contrast, the shell color of poor quality hairy crabs is dim and may appear brown or grayish white. Secondly, the hardness and smoothness of crab shells. Good crab shells are hard and slippery, and feel heavy to the touch, while poor crab shells are soft and rough.
In addition, pay attention to the body shape of hairy crabs. Good hairy crabs generally have full bodies, strong legs, thin bodies and weak legs, which may have poor quality.
2. Smell recognition
In addition to appearance characteristics, smell is also one of the important indicators for selecting hairy crabs. Good hairy crabs usually have a strong crab fragrance and give off an attractive fragrance. Bad quality hairy crabs may have peculiar smell or fishy smell. When choosing hairy crabs, you can gently shake the crab body and put your nose close to the crab shell to see if you can smell the rich crab fragrance. If you can smell the aroma, then this is probably a good hairy crab.
3. Abdominal examination
The last key to choosing a good hairy crab is to examine the abdomen carefully. As long as the correct method is mastered, abdominal examination can tell whether the meat quality of hairy crabs is full and whether crab roe is rich.
First, put the hairy crab on the palm of your hand and gently press the crab belly. If the crab belly has a certain elasticity and can feel the existence of crab roe, then this shows that crab roe is rich. Secondly, observe the color of crab belly. The belly of a good hairy crab is orange or golden yellow, and the belly of a poor hairy crab may be pale yellow or yellow-green. Finally, pay attention to the shape of the crab belly. The abdomen of a good hairy crab is full and uplifted, and the abdomen of a poor hairy crab may be in a state of collapse or depression.
Skills of steaming hairy crabs
1. Crabs should be tied up or killed with their navel up.
Try to buy crabs with leggings, or go home and tie them yourself. If you can't tie them up, you can kill them. Put a chopstick in the crab's mouth and destroy the crab's heart, and the crab will die. Crab navel should be upward, because crab roe and crab paste are rich in fat. If the navel is steamed downward, the fat will flow out after melting, and steaming the crab navel upward will solve this problem.
2. Steam crabs with cold water instead of boiling water.
If you steam crabs directly with boiling water, although they are cooked quickly, the effect of removing fishy smell is very poor, and the steamed crabs are old, fishy and not delicious. The correct way is to steam with cold water. When the cold water begins to steam, the crabs are heated evenly and cooked from the inside out, which can better remove the fishy smell and make the crab meat more tender.
3. Add 4 samples to remove fishy smell.
First, pour some cooking wine and put two pieces of ginger on the crab, which can remove the fishy smell very well. Secondly, pour some cooking wine into the water in the steamer, add a handful of pepper and slice onion and ginger. As the water temperature rises, these smells will be boiled out, and the fishy smell of crabs can be removed.
4, you can't always steam with fire.
It takes at least 15 minutes to steam crabs. The bigger the crabs, the longer the steaming time. The correct way is to steam with high fire for 5 minutes, then continue to steam with low fire, and calculate the time according to the size. If it is less than 3, steam with low fire 10 minute. Continue steaming for 3-4 pairs for about 12 minutes, and steam for more than 4 pairs for about 15 minutes.