大闸蟹

Temperature: 17 c
Weather: Cloudy

I will drop a short entry today because it is late now and I need to wake up very early the next morning.

I was fortunate to be invited to dine with my boss and a client just now. Though only 5 of us , we managed to eat RMB1,300 worth of food.

The most special delicacy ordered was 大闸蟹 or hairy crab. Now is hairy crabs season and everyone is eating it. In Malaysia, of course we do eat crabs in seafood restaurants but the way the Chinese here eat it is very different.

First, the waiter brought the crabs (alive and kicking) to our table for us to inspect and approve. They said: are these crabs ok? Once we said yes, these crabs were steamed (without first being killed).

I lost my appetite after seeing these crabs. My mother once told me not to eat anything that was alive but had to die because I wanted to eat it e.g. the live fish swimming in the tanks of the restaurant. That concept was heavily implanted inside my brain.

Further, knowing that these crabs are steamed alive 活活蒸死 really made my sick. When these steamed crabs were served, they come in one whole piece intact (unlike their Malaysian counterparts which was chopped into pieces and fried with tomato sauce or spices).

The people here don't eat the crab meat. They pulled open the shell and attacked the eggs (or yoke), here they call it 膏. That's why only female crabs are eaten now. Once they are running out of female crabs then only the male's turn to be steamed for its meat.

Everyone was served with one hairy crab. I did not really enjoy my hairy crab. Though the crab's yoke was quite nice, I was not so used to eating crab that way. I felt like I was in Fear Factor show.





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