Steamed Hairy Crab.

[seanyuki]

October and November Hairy Crabs season. We used to order baskets of hairy crabs from our CX colleagues in Shanghai .

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Steamed Hairy Crab Recipe
(Prep time: 2 mins Cook time: 15 mins)

Ingredients:
4 Hairy Crabs
2 dried perilla leaf (optional)
Sauce
4 tbsp Zhejiang black rice vinegar
2 tbsp ginger, minced
4 tbsp brown sugar, or to taste
Ginger Tea
4 slices ginger, about 5 inches long
1/4 cup brown sugar, or to taste
2 1/2 cups water

Directions:

Store the crabs in your fridge until ready to cook. Wash crabs under running water. Do not take off the string that is wrapping the crab. Prepare the steamer. Place perilla leaf in the boiling water. Put the crabs shell side down on your steaming plate. (Legs up.) Steam at high heat for 15 mins (small to medium crab) or 20 minutes (large crab).

Meanwhile put water, sliced ginger and sugar in small pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes or so until the tea is spicy and sweet. Add more sugar to taste.

For the sauce, stir the sugar in the vinegar until sugar is melted. (You may want to crush the sugar a bit first if you are using larger granules of sugar.) Add the minced ginger and stir. Pour into small dipping saucers, one for each diner.

Remove crabs from steamer immediately and place on serving plate. Let each diner peel and crack his own crab. Dip each bit of hairy crab meat into the sauce and eat.

Eating Tips: Discard only the gills you will see on each side of the crab after you lift off the top shell. Everything else soft is edible. You may need to supply your diners with seafood scissors and crab meat plucking utensils which you can usually buy where ever you are purchasing the crab. Happy Hairy Crab Eating!

Hairy Crab Vending Machines?! - Find out more...

Crabby-liciousness at The Hong Kong Cookery:

[Discus Fever]

Damn those look good, now I am hungry for lunch and it is still over 2 hours away.

[brewmaster15]

Sounds delicious but unfortunately we can't get them here..

https://www.goldthread2.com/food/shanghai-hairy-crab-farm-china/article/3036392

https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Invasive-Species/Examples-of-Aquatic-Invasive-Species-In-Connecticut




Chinese Mitten Crab

A Chinese mitten crab was found in Connecticut waters and confirmed by DEEP and Connecticut Sea Grant in June of 2012. The crab was collected from the Mianus Pond fishway on the Mianus River (Greenwich) and is the first confirmed sighting of this invasive crab in this state. Where abundant, Chinese mitten crabs can damage fishing gear, clog pumps and intake pipes, cause riverbank erosion through their burrowing activities, and outcompete native species for food and habitat. These crabs are relatively new to the Atlantic coast; however, and at this time it is unclear as to what their effects will actually be here.
DEEP needs your help! Be on the lookout for Chinese mitten crabs.

An image of a chinese mitten crab.

Mitten crabs are NOT native to Connecticut but have been found in our state. Establishment of mitten crabs in Connecticut may have negative consequences for coastal and freshwater ecosystems. Any crab found in freshwater should be investigated, as there are no freshwater crabs in New England.

Adult Chinese mitten crabs have several distinctive characteristics that aid in identification:

Brownish-orange to greenish-brown color.
Hairy, white-tipped claws (look like mittens).
Distinct notch between the eyes.
Four spines along each side of the shell.
Legs are twice as long as the width of the shell.
Only crab that would be found in freshwater in the Northeast.

Please help us learn more about mitten crabs in Connecticut.

If you catch a mitten crab:

Do not release it!
Please freeze it or preserve it in alcohol.
Note date and location of capture
Please report your finding within 48 hours to david.molnar@ct.gov or call 860-434-6043.
Report mitten crabs on DEEP's new online reporting app, the Marine Aquatic Invasive Species Survey (MAIS Survey).
MAIS Public Map Viewer (Online companion mapping tool that can be used to report, display, and download sightings.)

[Adamski77]

We are trying them almost every day Al here in Shanghai... this weekend king crabs are visiting :guitarist::p

[seanyuki]

Al Good read and thanks for sharing.

[brewmaster15]

Thanks guys.. I wonder how blue crabs would taste with thus recipe. I still have to the end of the month to crab here.

[seanyuki]

You can use Chinese red vinegar as a dip sauce for the crabs.

[CliffsDiscus]

I'll pour a little Seagram 7 into the top shell.

[brewmaster15]

I'll pour a little Seagram 7 into the top shell.

Only the shell Cliff? My recipe calls for it to be poured into a glass as well:)