How to eat crab healthily during its best tasting period? Can crab roe be artificial and the correct method

Recently, the hairy crabs that have just come onto the market and are still somewhat “tender” have, under the autumn wind, developed hard shells and rich roe, gradually entering their best tasting period. Today, let's talk with everyone about those things concerning hairy crabs. Can crab roe really be artificial? How do you eat crab in the healthiest way?

How do you eat crab in the most skillful and healthiest way?

Eating hairy crab is very particular about dining manners and eating technique. People who don't know how to eat hairy crab bite down in one mouthful, shell and all, make a crunching sound a few times, and then spit it out, shell and all. In this way, a hairy crab always ends up wasting thirty to forty percent of its meat.

Host Xiao Xing says: “The scientific order for eating crab is to first lift the navel, then lift the shell, then eat the body, and finally eat the eight legs and the two claws.”

10 steps for eating hairy crab:

1. Cut off the hairy crab's eight legs, including the two large claws, and let them cool; the meat inside will automatically separate from the shell, making it very easy to poke out or even suck out, so leave these to eat last;

2. Remove the crab flap (that is, the small piece of cover on the crab's belly button area; male and female crabs have different shapes), and follow through to lift off the crab shell;

3. First eat the crab shell part, use a small spoon to scoop out the crab stomach part in the middle, and gently suck clean the crab roe wrapped around the outside; (Note: do not suck through the triangular cone-shaped crab stomach in the middle; it should be discarded.)

4. After finishing the crab shell, it is the crab body's turn; first use scissors to cut off the excess crab legs, crab mouth and crab lungs;

5. Use the handle of a spoon to pick out a hexagonal flake-like object in the middle of the crab body; that is the crab heart part, discard it;

6. Use a small spoon to scoop a little vinegar and drizzle it over the crab body, then eat the crab roe and crab paste in the crab body clean;

7. Break the crab body into two halves; at this point you can see the thread-like crab meat. Just tear along the crab legs and you can pull out the crab meat. A cleanly eaten crab shell is complete and semi-transparent;

8. Use scissors to cut the crab legs into three sections; the last section, the crab leg tip, can serve as a tool. First use the thin end of the crab leg tip to poke out the meat from the middle section of the crab leg, then use the thick end of the crab leg tip to poke out the meat from the front section of the crab leg;

9. Divide the crab claw into 3 sections; the first two sections can have the crab shell cut open directly, and the meat scooped out with a spoon. For the last claw, the trick is to cut open both sides, then use your hands to break the two claw legs in opposite directions, and the claw shell will separate completely;

10. The crab shell eaten this way, although it may not necessarily be pieced back together completely into the shape of a crab, is still laid out in clear order, with not a shred of meat left.

After eating, wash your hands, then drink a cup of warm ginger tea; eating one hairy crab over the course of a meal also leaves you feeling satisfied with food and drink.

Can crab roe really be artificial? This is how experts explain it

When sorghum turns red is exactly the best season for eating crab; in the eighth and ninth lunar months choose female crabs, and after the ninth month choose male crabs. Everyone likes to use "fat paste and full crab" to describe the plumpness and deliciousness of hairy crab.

However, there are also quite a few rumors online about crab roe, saying that crab roe can be artificial and injected into crabs. On this issue, China National Radio's Countryside Voice host Xiao Xing consulted Professor Wang Chunlin, scientist for the ecosystem farming post of the modern agricultural shrimp and crab industry system of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and dean of the School of Marine Sciences at Ningbo University.

Professor Wang Chunlin, dean of the School of Marine Sciences at Ningbo University:

Crabs include farmed ones, as well as those caught in seawater and freshwater. If a crab develops well, its crab roe is not only plump, but also deep and attractive in color. It cannot be ruled out that some thin crabs that themselves develop poorly have poorly developed yolk and hepatopancreas. Some of these crabs also flow into the market, and some are also fattened through artificial fattening methods. During the fattening process, fish, shrimp, shellfish and so on are generally put in as feed, or artificial feed is used, and they are sold after they have grown fat.

At present, there is no artificial crab roe. The crab shell is closed; if it were artificial, how could such a large piece of crab roe be gotten into the shell? Even putting it mildly, if it were possible to inject crab roe into a crab's body, it would still be very easy to identify. Crab roe is wrapped in a layer of biological membrane, so it has a shape; if someone really made artificial crab roe, this kind of crab roe would be loose.

To eat good crab, must you wait until after the Mid-Autumn Festival?

Professor Wang Chunlin, dean of the School of Marine Sciences at Ningbo University:

The timing for eating crab is very important; only after mating, as the weather gradually turns colder, do the gonads develop. Crab roe is also pale white at first, slowly turns yellow, and finally becomes orange-red. So to eat good crab, seawater crabs must wait until after October and November to be a bit fatter.

We are particular about eating mantis shrimp at the Dragon Boat Festival and eating crab at the Mid-Autumn Festival. Crabs eaten in unsuitable periods mostly have little meat, because they are still growing.

However, everyone may also be thinking about this question: in the past, because of the weather, we could eat very few green vegetables in winter. Now, with the development of facility agriculture, vegetables and fruits can appear on everyone's table all year round. So, can crabs also have their growth time adjusted artificially? Can we eat crabs full of rich paste all year round?

Professor Wang Chunlin, dean of the School of Marine Sciences at Ningbo University:

This possibility exists in theory. It is more likely to be moved a little earlier or a little later, but it still depends on the cost of investment. Whether animal or plant, the main factor restricting its growth is temperature. If summer is treated as winter, this requires a large amount of cooling, and the energy consumption is tremendous. Likewise, turning winter into summer also requires tremendous energy consumption for heating. So from the perspective of economic benefit, it is not easy to really make money from this.

How do you eat crab correctly? Learn about these little common-sense tips

The best time for tasting crab has arrived, but this does not mean crab is a delicacy you can eat with abandon. We often see news of people vomiting and having diarrhea, or even going to the hospital, because they ate crab improperly. As food lovers, everyone should know how to eat, and even more so eat healthily! Here are a few suggestions for eating crab summarized for everyone.