(Ecns.cn)-- Good news for food lovers! The coming month is peak season for a quintessential Chinese delicacy: the hairy crab. As fall approaches, the crabs plump up, and restaurants serve them in various flavors.
In China, food has been diversified to a surprising extent. Crabs in different provinces and regions certainly taste differently and are cooked in various ways. Adding to the old-fashioned recipe list of steamed, fried, and stuffed crabs, many unique tastes and crab related desserts with regional, and even exotic, features have been entering menus.
Sautéd crab with rice cake
The best place for crabs to hatch is in areas where river water meets sea water. From here, the young crabs float upstream to freshwater lakes, feasting on seaweed, snails, and marsh grass. Therefore, in China's coastal Zhejiang Province, crabs are a common dish and sautéd crab with rice cake, a local favorite, has a distinguished flavor.
The secret weapon of such a dish lies in the miracle mixture of the glutinous rice cakes and the roe and oil that oozes out of the crab.
Unlike Chaoshan flavored crab, which is popular among people in Guangdong and Hong Kong, the sautéd crab with rice cake doesn't involve salting the crab with soy sauce or hot peppers and tastes much softer with its fried crabmeat and shiny crab oil.
But, remember do not boil the crab first.
Thai steamed crab
As the most common way to cook crabs, steamed crab is as delicious as it is nutritious. Normally, we steam crabs in clear soup, and eat them with ginger and vinegar. Thai steamed crab, however, is much different.
The dish should be steamed in a bamboo steamer to prevent condensation from dripping onto the cooking food. What's more unique about the recipe is that it requires sliced citronella when steaming the crabmeat. During the 15 minutes of cooking time, the faint scent of bamboo and citronella will penetrate into the crabmeat.
The dish requires tailor-made Thai spices to achieve its taste bud rocking effect.
Fried crab with sea salt
Many would think that salt spoils the taste of crabmeat. Well, this won't happen if you choose sea salt.
The tip with such flavoring is to bury the crab in a full stew of sea salt. Meanwhile, do not forget to drop some rose wine on the top of the shell. Then light it with a naked flame to drive the oil out of the shell.
The advantage of such a method lies in the naked flame's dehydrating effect on the crab. During the process, the salt mingles with the wine and slowly penetrates into the crabmeat, making every bite of this dish satisfying.
What's more romantic about this dish is the light scent of rose wine mixed with yummy crabmeat. This will certainly charm those who are expecting a memorable dinner.
