When do swimming crabs have roe, and what kind of crab has the most roe?

The swimming crab is one of the most common types of crab; its meat is plentiful and delicious, and it contains rich protein and various vitamins, so many people like to steam it or stir-fry it. So when do swimming crabs have roe? What kind of crab has the most roe?

When do they have roe?

Swimming crabs do have crab roe, roughly around the Mid-Autumn Festival (from August to November each year); once the female crab has matured, it has crab roe. And its body width can reach 100-130 mm.

The ovary and digestive gland inside the crab are orange-yellow and delicious in taste. Crab roe is not the crab's eggs; although its composition is basically the same as crab eggs, the two are essentially different. Crab roe does contain egg cells that have not been expelled from the body, but it also contains other crab organs, glands, tissue fluid and other substances, and is not simply crab eggs. When the crab roe becomes larger in volume and takes on a bright orange-yellow color, it means the female crab's gonads have matured; at this point what is produced and expelled from the body is crab eggs, while the egg cells remaining in the gonads within the body still belong to a part of the crab roe.

What kind of crab has a lot of roe?

First, choose a large one, because the formation of crab roe in the female crab's body accumulates as the female crab grows older; a large swimming crab has grown for a longer time and accumulated more crab roe. Generally speaking, only a female crab of 2~3 years has a relatively large amount of crab roe;

Second, hold the crab in your hand and weigh it; one that feels heavy is a good crab that is plump and sturdy, while one that feels light is mostly an inferior crab that is shriveled with little meat. A good crab with lots of roe has a blue-green and hard back, and a full, heavy abdomen. You can also carefully observe the crab legs; a crab whose legs are hard and difficult to pinch is the plumpest.

Most importantly, before the tenth lunar month each year, the female is tasty, because it has a lot of crab roe; while at this time the male has little white gelatinous substance, so it is not tasty.

After the tenth lunar month each year, the female is not tasty, because the crab roe has mostly grown into eggs and been laid, and the meat is also less; while at this time the male has more white gelatinous substance, so it is tasty.

Science popularization: the nutritional value of crab roe

1. Because swimming crabs have high yields, people often select live crabs full of roe, pick the roe into a bowl, and let it solidify through wind and sun, making “crab roe cakes”, which have an especially good flavor, but the yield is small and ordinary people find it hard to taste this flavor.

2. Crabs are rich in protein and trace elements, and have a very good nourishing effect on the body. Crabs also have an anti-tuberculosis effect; eating crabs is greatly beneficial to the recovery from tuberculosis.