The complete guide to buying, cooking and eating crabs, all explained in one article

Around the Double Ninth Festival on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month each year comes the best season for eating crabs. Crabs from Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong and other places flood the market in large quantities, and hairy crab lovers begin preparing to buy crabs by the basketful and take them home, ready for a big feast. In fact, eating crabs is quite an art. From selecting them and telling good hairy crabs from bad and real from fake, to steaming, boiling, frying and stir-frying them, to the techniques of eating them slowly and savoring them, to the taboos for the greedy, there is a fair amount of knowledge involved. Shanghai people are famous for loving crabs; being fond of good food is only one reason. Knowing how to eat them and understand them, turning crab eating into a culture, is the real essence of it.

The knowledge of buying crabs

How do you choose a crab? Broadly speaking, a crab must be fresh, so you must pick a live one. Size does not matter, but it must be heavy. Because female crabs have more roe, females are better.

According to people who know the trade, careful crab selection involves "five looks": First, look at the shell. Those whose shells are dark green on the back with a shine are all thick-meated and plump; those whose shells are yellow on the back are mostly rather skinny and weak. Second, look at the belly. If the belly is bulging outward, it is generally full of rich paste and fat; if it is sunken inward, it mostly lacks flesh and condition. Third, look at the pincers. Those whose pincers are densely covered with fuzz have old, sturdy pincers; those whose pincers have no fuzz are soft and weak. Fourth, look at vitality. Turn the crab over, belly facing up; if it can quickly flick itself back over with its pincers, it is strong and can be kept; if it cannot turn back, it is weak and cannot be stored for long. Fifth, look at male or female. In the eighth and ninth lunar months choose female crabs; after the ninth month choose male crabs, because the gonads of female and male crabs mature at these two times respectively, when the flavor and nutrition are at their best. Study this carefully and follow these "five looks", and you can pick out the high-quality crabs from among the many.

"To not know Yangcheng Lake is a shame to the eyes; to not eat crab is to wrong the belly." The hairy crabs of Yangcheng Lake have always been highly praised, called the "king of crabs", and eating them is said to be "just right". But there are no few counterfeit Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs on the market. Although the place of origin puts anti-counterfeit rings on them to distinguish them, who can guarantee that these rings cannot be forged? According to experienced aquaculture experts, Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs differ from others in four characteristics: First, a green back - the shell is blue-gray, smooth and glossy; second, a white belly - the belly and carapace that touch the mud are crystal white, with no black spots; third, yellow hair - the hair on the legs is long and yellow, each strand standing upright; fourth, golden claws - the claws are golden yellow, firm and strong, and even placed on glass they can stand with all eight legs upright and both pincers raised in the air.

Four great secrets for quickly telling good crabs from bad:

1. Whether it feels heavy: does it feel heavy when placed in the hand?

2. Press the claws with your hand to check whether the crab's flesh is clean.

3. Whether there is enough crab paste: a plump or bulging tail end is a sign of top quality.

4. If the crab paste is bright in color, on both sides of the crab's belly will show through