photo credit : jaremfan/flickrWhen I was living in Hong Kong, I'd always looked forward to autumn cos that's hairy crab season. These little hairy creatures from Shanghai would start to appear all over the island. I used to buy them by the basket, yup you read that right (sort of like durians except I don't love durians the same way I do hairy crabs), one whole basket. Well these things are small, I can easily down 4 at one go.
Selecting hairy crabs is a tricky business. Connoisseurs of hairy crabs will go to great lengths explaining when is the right time for the male & when it's better to eat the female. I could never figure it out, I just go for the roe. Although the point of eating hairy crabs is the delectable roe (who cares about cholesterol), the meat itself is "sweet" (this is where my Cantonese kicks in, I have no idea how to translate that into English).
Needless to say, all Chinese restaurants, not necessarily the Shanghainese ones, in HK would serve them when in season. But it's easy to prepare them at home - I just steam them with tea leaves & served with vinegar dipping sauce. Which is why I buy them by the baskets & have hairy crab feasts at home with friends.
Am I getting any here in France ? No way in hell. So why am I blogging about this ?
It has been years since I last ate any & today I just came across an article talking about them which triggered major craving. Writing this post isn't helping. Neither is looking at the image above. Sigh maybe I'll dream about eating them tonight.
Selecting hairy crabs is a tricky business. Connoisseurs of hairy crabs will go to great lengths explaining when is the right time for the male & when it's better to eat the female. I could never figure it out, I just go for the roe. Although the point of eating hairy crabs is the delectable roe (who cares about cholesterol), the meat itself is "sweet" (this is where my Cantonese kicks in, I have no idea how to translate that into English).
Needless to say, all Chinese restaurants, not necessarily the Shanghainese ones, in HK would serve them when in season. But it's easy to prepare them at home - I just steam them with tea leaves & served with vinegar dipping sauce. Which is why I buy them by the baskets & have hairy crab feasts at home with friends.
Am I getting any here in France ? No way in hell. So why am I blogging about this ?
It has been years since I last ate any & today I just came across an article talking about them which triggered major craving. Writing this post isn't helping. Neither is looking at the image above. Sigh maybe I'll dream about eating them tonight.
