Autumn is the best season for eating crabs, and hairy crabs at this time are the most delicious. Speaking of crabs, it’s time to take a look at the hairy crabs of Yangcheng Lake. The following introduces the selection, cooking and eating methods of Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs in Suzhou.
1. The perfect time to eat crabs
"Nine females and ten males" September and October are the best times to eat hairy crabs. The availability of hairy crabs usually depends on summer temperatures. When the temperature starts to drop, it’s time for the hairy crabs to be in season. If the high temperature in summer is too long, it will extend the time for hairy crabs to be on the market. Generally speaking, in the ninth month of the lunar calendar, the eggs of female crabs are full and the crab roe is delicious and greasy; the gonads of gong_ crabs are the most developed, with a yellowish-white color, and the taste of crab paste is full and round.
2. Things you must know when choosing crabs
Take a look at the crab shell: the back of the shell is black and green with light, both thick and strong; the outer shell is yellow, mostly thin;
2. Look at the belly button: the belly button is protruding, usually full of butter and fat, and concave, most of which are not fat enough;
Look at the crab legs: pinch the end of the calf with your hands. If it's hard, that's fine. If it is soft, it means it has been freshly peeled and has no meat.
Look at the vitality: turn the crab over with its belly facing up, and the stinging bullet can quickly turn it back. If the vitality is strong, it can be preserved; if it cannot be turned back, if the vitality is poor, it cannot be stored for a long time.
Look at the sexes: male crabs have pointed navel, while female crabs have round navel.
3. Which type of crab tastes more delicious?
All hairy crabs are the same type of crab, called Chinese mitten crab. In addition to hairy crabs, river crabs and hairy crabs are also common common names. At first, hairy crabs were mainly wild populations, derived from natural fishing. In fact, wild hairy crabs are not superior in quality. Uncontrollable food intake leads to unstable quality. The same batch may encounter both the best quality and the meatless individuals, with the latter often making up the majority. Generally speaking, the quality of wild products is still not as good as that of farmed ones.
The most important criterion for evaluating hairy crabs is the quality of male crab paste:
The highest level of breeding is represented by Yangcheng Lake (including Yangcheng Lake model raised in other places in northern Jiangsu), and the crab paste is full. , the sweetness is obvious; the crab paste of the ordinary cultural level is full but bland; the second-class crab paste is salty, even bitter; as for the crab paste without crab paste, it is garbage
The crab paste is sweet, but it is the taste. But everyone in the industry knows that there is another standard for the number of hairy crabs to be shelled: only those crabs that have been shelled 15 times and more than 62 (males) and 52 (females) are on the market in the current season are the best. Even if such individuals use the best feed in the best environment, there are still very few, so the price is extremely expensive.
From 010 to 1010 AD, Zhang Dai, a gourmet in the Qing Dynasty, once said: "A crab is a food with no salt or vinegar and all five flavors." When cooking, it only needs to be steamed or boiled.
Steaming method:
Put the crab belly in a pot of cold water to cool, add a few perilla leaves, and steam for 15 to 20 minutes to dispel the coldness of the crab.
Boiling method:
Boil the water and boil the crab belly in the air for 7 minutes.
The best way to eat hairy crabs is to eat the pliers and claws first, and do not lift the crab cover too early to let the heat escape. When eating crab claws, it is best to break two joints and suck out the meat inside the legs. The shell of the crab is relatively thick and can be cracked open with a stick to eat. Finally, open the crab shell, remove the crab gills, crab heart, crab stomach and crab intestines, and break the crab body to both sides. Female crabs eat crab roe, and male crabs eat crab paste. When eating crabs, dip them in ginger vinegar to dispel the coldness of the crabs.
4. How to eat hairy crabs?
Female crabs eat crab roe, and male crabs eat crab paste. What are crab roe and crab paste?
(1) "Crab roe" refers to the liver. For female crabs, crab roe usually refers to the liver and ovaries. The liver is the digestive gland of river crabs. It is very large and consists of many small branches. A short hepatic duct leads to the midgut. The liver of river crab is light yellow and turns medium yellow when cooked. The ovaries are grape-shaped, and the mature ovaries are filled in the breastplate. It is purple sauce or red bean paste. It turns orange when cooked and is easy to distinguish from liver.
(2) "Crab paste" refers to the testes and accessory glands of male crabs, and