So, how to distinguish the female crab from the male crab? First of all, from the physical characteristics: the female crab is smaller, with short claws, small crab claws and round navel, commonly known as round navel; Male crabs are larger, with long claws, big claws and pointed navel, commonly known as pointed navel.
Physiologically, the female crabs are crab yellow and crab red, with a high content of protein. Male crabs have crab paste, white and sticky, with high collagen content.
In our Jiangxi province, Junshan Lake hairy crabs in Jinxian County of this province are very famous. Junshan Lake was called "Riyue Lake" in ancient times. There are no factories around because there are mostly forests and cultivated land. The lake is as green as jade, with lush aquatic plants and rich bait organisms. The clear water hairy crabs produced in Junshan Lake have five unique flavors: big, fat, fishy, fresh and sweet.
Every year in the crab season, we locals like to buy some Junshan Lake hairy crabs and taste the delicacies of this season. In the past, when steaming crabs, my legs always fell off. Although it didn't affect eating, it really didn't look good on the table. When I bought crabs again, I asked the shopkeeper all my doubts. The shopkeeper was also very patient and answered the same question.
Let's start with the crab leg fall. Every time I untie the rope that binds the crab, some crab legs fall off easily. Even if it doesn't fall off at this time, it may fall off when steaming. The boss said that steaming crabs is easy to straighten your legs. You can poke 1 cm into the crab's mouth with a fine needle first, so it will steam much better. You can also leave the rope untied. After brushing, steam it with a rope and untie it after cooking, so that it is not easy to fall off your legs.
I said I steamed the crab back and put my navel up. It was still yellow. The boss said you might have been steaming for a long time. I can't say it. Three-in-one crab was steamed with high fire for about 15 minutes. The boss suggested that the next time the water boils, steam it over medium heat to minimize the firepower.
Then he added that the time should not be too short, because most aquatic animals like crabs contain parasites to some extent. If the cooking time is too short, the internal temperature is not high enough or the internal high temperature time is not enough, then the parasite may not be completely killed, so the crab must be cooked before eating.
Indeed, it is really difficult to judge whether the crab is cooked or not just by looking at its red shell. Generally speaking, it takes 15 minutes to kill parasites from boiling in cold water to steaming, while it takes 15~20 minutes for larger crabs.
Steamed crab
Ingredients: 8 crabs (3 pairs each), a small piece of ginger and 3 grams of perilla.
Seasoning materials: yellow rice wine 15ml, crab vinegar.
Production method:
1. Don't untie the crab rope. Brush crab claws, crab legs and crab bellies with a small brush. Then rinse with clean water.
2. Wash and slice ginger, put it in a steamer, add rice wine, and then add a proper amount of water, without putting too much, with a certain distance from the drawer layer.
3. Wrap Perilla frutescens with non-woven fabric and put it on the drawer layer. Put the crab shells face down and their bellies face up, one by one. This is done to prevent the loss of soup and keep it fresh and nutritious.
4. Cover the pot and steam over high heat. When the water boils, you can see the crab shells turn red, and then cook them over medium heat. The total time is about 15 minutes. If you are afraid of being unfamiliar, don't take it out after turning off the fire. Stew for 2 minutes. If it is a crab under 3 Liang, then the time will be reduced accordingly.
5. After steaming, take out the crab, remove the rope and put it on a plate to eat.
6, homemade crab vinegar, soy sauce, ginger juice, balsamic vinegar, honey according to the ratio of 1: 0.5: 3: 0.5 (adjusted according to your own preferences), began to taste delicious.
Tips:
1. Steamed crabs with hot water or cold water? Personally, I prefer steamed crabs in cold water, which is different from steamed fish. The fish died and the crab lived. When the fish suddenly encounters high temperature, the external tissue solidifies, which can lock the fresh juice and nutrition inside. When crabs are steamed with cold water, the cold water is slowly heated to generate steam, and the temperature in the pot is gradually increased, which can better lock the delicious crab meat in the crab shell.
2. Perilla can be used as medicine, medicine and medicine. Steaming perilla with crab can remove fishy smell and dispel cold. If there are fresh perilla leaves, two or three pieces can be boiled together. If not, use dry goods, and tie the bag tightly with a non-woven bag. The amount of about 3 grams can be less than 10 crab. If there are too many crabs, increase them accordingly.
While tasting delicious food, you must remember to eat fresh crabs. Sea crabs can eat frozen, but hairy crabs must eat fresh ones. When the crab is dying or dying, the oxygen acid in the crab will decompose to produce histamine. Histamine is a toxic substance. With the extension of death time, more and more histamine is accumulated in crabs, and more and more toxic gases are produced. Even if the crab is cooked, this toxin is not easy to be destroyed, and it is easy to cause adverse reactions in the human body, so you must pay attention to this problem when buying.
You can pinch your paws a little when you buy crabs. If the middle part of the crab claw is hard, it means that this crab is better and the meat inside is fuller. But if the middle part is soft, it means that the crab is inferior, empty and without meat. It is possible that the merchants are shoddy.
You can also turn the crab over and see if you can turn it back. If it is a bound crab, you can pull the bound crab's foot to see if it will retract. Crabs that can shrink their feet back are relatively fresh crabs.
Steamed fresh crabs are the best. It's easy to make them yellow without losing their legs. First, you can use a fine needle to obliquely pierce the crab's mouth 1 cm, or don't untie the rope. When steaming, remember that the shell is facing down and the stomach is facing up. There is no fixed time for steaming crabs. According to the size of the crab, the medium-sized crab steamed 15 minutes or so. Not all fire. When the water boils, turn it to medium heat as long as the water keeps boiling. When steaming, you can add more perilla to make the crab tender and tasteless. Finally, I want to say that no matter how steamed, crabs must be steamed before eating, otherwise it will not kill parasites. Food is important, but the human body is more important.