Generally, "Old Ningbo" is good at choosing white crabs. When it comes to one set after another, the key is its freshness and firmness, so the word "fresh" is added in front. If you weigh the weight in your hand, the heavy one is better than the light one. If you pinch the navel and its sides, the harder the better. Some people have to pinch the crab's feet to know whether the crab meat is full or not. White crabs can be divided into long navel crabs and popular navel crabs. The former is a larger male crab, and the latter is a female crab. People in Ningbo call it "Little Niang Crab", which is slightly smaller. Others specially choose white crabs that shed their skin, and the crabs are the fattest at this time. But this kind of crab is rare, because when molting, it is also the time when its body is the most fragile and its defense ability is the worst, and it is easy to become a good meal for similar or other fish.
There are several ways to eat white crabs. Steaming is the simplest. If you want to change your taste, you can make scallion crab, white crab bean curd pot, potato white crab pot and so on. Or mixed with rice cakes, called "fried rice cakes with fresh white crabs". It is really delicious.
Pickling white crabs into choking crabs is a favorite of many Ningbo people, and it can also be said that they have a special liking. Have a drink, choking crab is a necessary cold dish. The so-called "no crab is a feast." It is best to choose the female Portunus trituberculatus, that is, "Little Niang Crab", and prepare for wintering after autumn. At this time, the crab cream is red, and it is boiled into brine with cold boiled water and a little ginger and white wine, so it is called red cream choking crab. Usually you can eat it after a day and a night. It was put on a plate and served on the table. Red and white are both gentle and charming. Vinegar tastes mellow and salty, which makes people want to stop eating. It is the best dish in "Old Ningbo" and is known as the "rice hammer". If you don't eat it for a while, you can put the choked crabs in the refrigerator for quick freezing, and don't continue to soak them in salt water, so as not to affect the freshness because they are too salty.
In the past, whenever Ningbo people went to Shanghai to visit relatives and friends, they always brought a few excellent red-paste roasted crabs, which were very popular. This is a natural eating habit of people who have lived in coastal areas since childhood. It is inevitable that mainlanders will be surprised when they see this way of eating crabs for the first time. They can't get used to the taste, let alone eat it, or mistake the choking crab for fresh white crab. As a result, a delicious dish turned into garbage. That's a real pity.