The flavor is enhanced by the roses on the plastic table cloth

I’ve Got Hairy Crabs!

It’s autumn here in Hong Kong and that means the return of little green crabs bound into neat packets and stacked in display cases all over the city. Hairy crabs are from fresh water areas in the north of China and are considered a supreme delicacy. Restaurants all over the city advertise an assortment of dishes based around them but the traditional cooking method is to simply steam them and serve them with red vinegar along with Hua Diao wine. Since these crabs are considered a “cooling” food, it is also customary to finish the meal with a sweet ginger tea to heat the body back up again and rebalance it.

The place from which we had purchased the crabs was famous for purportedly carrying some of the best crabs in the city and supplying them to a host of the rich and famous in Hong Kong. Asking my mom exactly who supported this place for some reason got me nothing more than a litany of local celebrity gossip.

Once I got past the patches of hair on the crabs pincers, they reminded me of miniature Alaskan king crabs with their round bodies and long legs. Popping the shell off, I looked down and stared at what makes this crab so famous, a rich, almost red orange pile of “tomalley” or hepatopancreas. Sounds odd, but it plays a role similar to the liver in crustaceans. Just think of it as foie gras of the sea. This was the best I had ever tasted as it was permeated with a distinctive flavor and richness that was way beyond anything else. It reminded me of a rich, dry salted egg yolk in its consistency but carried a sweet seafood note that was utterly unique. The flesh itself though, was a bit more standard but was good nonetheless.

Not surprisingly, hairy crabs have entrenched themselves into places were they aren’t suppose to go and have proven difficult to dislodge. They have shown up in the waterways of Europe and North America and are displacing local species at an alarming rate. Local governments are fretting over a course of action to remove these pests and fear that the invasion may be unstoppable. Listen, I just paid $100 HK for a crab that was maybe 10 cm across and there are how many people in China? You do the math.