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- Hairy Crab- have you try it?
September and October around is the beginning of hairy crab 大閘蟹 season. They are only available in the autumn in the greater China area. Vinegar will be the dipping sauces for the crabs. The big attraction to eating hairy crabs is eating the rich yellow/orange coloured roe of the hairy crabs. Some guys just don't eat the meat and only taste the yolk. However, some customers from UK, they just eat all the meat from legs part and leave the yolk alone. And in fact eating the roe does your cholesterol levels no favours as well. And I always saying that tasty food usuallly not so healthy.
The hairy crab is traditionally paired with Shaoxing Yellow Wine (花雕酒) - a wine that can warm the body, balancing the hot-cold polarity.
On the other hand, Western pairing focuses on complementing the dish with a wine that matches in both structure and flavor. A good pairing is when the food and wine do not over-power each other.
Normally, I will try both the Chinese pairing and the Western pairing. I will pair them with the traditional Chinese Yellow Wine as well as with some white wines ie Riesling, Champagne...
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077
- Reply by cigarman168, Oct 20.
Seems the photos cannot upload?
http://www5.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=480595025/PictureID=14357994025/a=870425025_870425025/otsc=SHR/otsi=SPIClink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
http://www5.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=480595025/PictureID=14305960025/a=870425025_870425025/otsc=SHR/otsi=SPIClink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
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1135 - Reply by dmcker, Oct 21.
I've often had those crabs and others from the Sea of Japan, even though they can be pricey depending on where you're having them. Delicious, and I definitely eat the 'coral' ( 蟹みそ ) . Wonder if it really is all that bad for you. Tastes too good to be all that bad. ;-)
I usually have it with Shaosing wine when fixed in a Chinese sauce, often with Japanese Sake when in a Japanese-style nabe dish, and will drink champagne, flinty still chardonnays from Chablis and elsewhere, sauvignon blanc from Bordeaux and elsewhere, muscadet from the mouth of the Loire, and even picpoul and other whites with boiled, steamed or baked crabs. Love how the acidity of the wine cuts through yet complements the sweetness of the crab.
Getting hungry over here, Cigarman....
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077
- Reply by cigarman168, Oct 21.
I think it is different species of hairy crab in Japan and I know that many Japanese is big fan for hairy crab and they even fly to Shanghai to eat hairy crabs. We do also have frozen king crab from Hokkaido and also my favourites.
Try to put one or two Preserved Sweet Prune into Shaosing wine (Taiwanese Style) make taste more sweety and you will eat more.
And we will normally have a hot ginger soup after eating hairy crab to balance the cold polarity.
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1135
- Reply by dmcker, Oct 21.
I was talking both about the Shanghai hairy crabs, and their relatives a bit further north in the Sea of Japan, especially near Niigata. Many varieties of good crab here. Crab seems to get better in colder waters, yet there's plenty of good eating from those further south, too.
I sometimes drink Shaosing with the dried Taiwanese plums (hard with the the dried white fructose layer on the outside, very different from Japanese dried plums), but I generally prefer it with very thin circular slices of lemon or other similar citrus fruit in it. Many Japanese drink Shaosing with rock sugar in the glass, but I give that version a miss....
BTW, cigarman, have you noticed a dropoff in Shaosing quality after the Beijing Olympics?
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077
- Reply by cigarman168, Oct 21.
I generally prefer it with very thin circular slices of lemon or other similar citrus fruit in it - Will it be too sour the taste?
cigarman, have you noticed a dropoff in Shaosing quality after the Beijing Olympics?- It happens often in China with no surprise, due to big consumption during those time and producer just try to produce as much as they can sell and quality is not their concern. That why, I will try my best to bring along with my own wines to China in order to avoid this or fakes wines, I believe you have heard news about some people die after drinking fakes white wines.
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1135
- Reply by dmcker, Oct 22.
I only use thin slices of lemon, and only one or two in the glass, so the tartness of the citrus is no problem. Years ago I spent a bit of time in Taiwan (and Hong Kong), and that's where I learned the two styles of Shaosing wine drinking we discuss above. Rather than the sweetness of the plum my body seems to prefer the acid of the lemon.
And yes, unfortunately, food and drink quality in China is still perceived as a problem in many other countries. Two years ago several Japanese died from frozen Chinese potstickers ( 餃子 ) sold in markets here, and at about the same time a lot of US pets were dying from bad Chinese petfood. Hopefully food and drug regulations and enforcement will improve in China before much longer.
BTW, the hairy crab are just called 毛蟹 ('kegani') in Japanese, whether in Niigata or elsewhere.
