Shanghai Hairy Crabs - 大闸蟹

Going forward, I will periodically profile the different types of food that can be found in Shanghai. Some will be good, others will be bad.

For today's post, I am introducing a type of seafood that is in season right now in the Shanghai region - the Shanghai Hairy Crab or in Chinese - 大闸蟹。 This type of crab differs from the blue crab that is found in the Northeastern part of the US (this is the type that I was familiar with in my days in New York). Physically, the hairy is somewhat smaller than the blue crab. The main distinction is the very bushy hair that grows on its front large claws.

The hairy crab has a reputation of near religious proportions. This time of the year, nearly all good restaurants will be serving them, and every market will be selling live ones. You couldn't go a day this time of the year without seeing them a few times a day.

Having had both the hairy crab and the blue crab I can say that the blue crab's meat tastes better and there is more of it than the hairy crab. The meat of the blue crab has a sweet flavor to it while the hairy crab has a neutral taste. It is also not as difficult to get to the meat in the blue compared to the hairy. If the hairy crab has a tougher shell, less meat, and less flavorful meat than the blue why does it receive so much attention here in Shanghai? It is the brain and the egg of this crab. Since this is the peak time that this crab breeds, there is plenty of eggs to be had in the females and that is why it is so ubiquitous right now.

The hairy crab is not cheap this time of the year, they go for 100RMB for a pair of live ones (a male and a female). This is the equivalent of $13. I can get 6 live blue crabs in NY for about $8 so you can see how expensive the hairy crab is. Think of it another way, 100RMB means a lot more to a Chinese living in China than $13 means to an American living in America.

I personally think that the hairy crab's brain and egg are just sublime, but after you consume that part you will expend a lot of time and energy going after the little meat that it has.

The topic of food takes on such importance here in China. You can bring out the topic of food and get into a serious discussion with anybody over here. This is one of the things that I really enjoy about living here.