there are also fresh shrimps
the blue netting is where they hold the crabs
these structures hold the cages where they keep the crabs fresh
a view from the backside of the restaurant
forget the spelling mistake, we come here for the crabs
and of course there is a raffle with winners and losers
but soon we learn the knack of it and enjoy the special flavor
opening and eating the crabs requires some practice
and then there is the first pile of steamed hairy crabs on the table
there is even a nice pavillion for if you want to dine outside
Shanghai's famous Hairy Crab
The crab lives mostly in fresh waters but moves to sea for breeding. The furry claws give
the
Shanghai's Hairy Crab its name and the crustaceans are considered to be a real culinary treat.
September through December is
Hairy Crab season and in this period you can buy them in vending machines as far away as Nanjing.
Especially the ones from
Yangcheng Lake are famous for the taste and can be quite expensive, hence a lot of the 'Yangcheng' crabs on offer actually originate
from other less famous lakes.
In November 2004 we had a company outing to the shores of Yangcheng Lake to taste the famous Hairy
Crab. There is a special way of opening the skeleton but luckily we had many experts at hand.
The taste is actually pretty good!
Yangcheng Lake lies NE of Suzhou and is the top notch source for the Shanghai Hairy Crabs
floating restaurants line up the shores of Yangcheng Lake
but the real losers are the crabs
a peek into the kitchen where the cook is working on the crabs
