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The original article was published in 2021.09.17 Jiangnan Evening News Humanities Weekly
(Excerpt)
"Autumn wind, crab feet itch; chrysanthemums bloom, smell crabs come", chrysanthemum crab fat, the best time of the year to eat Taihu crab is coming. Taihu Lake is vast, the natural conditions are unique, and the crab meat is the most delicious. Hundreds of thousands of crab seedlings are stocked every year, when all the legs and feet itch to crawl to the riverbed on all sides, at night, the mast lamp on the mouth of the lake is shining, and from time to time there are Hairy Crabs in Taihu Lake on the canopy layer, as long as they are picked up next to the mast lamp. Crab catches use crabs: Fishermen burn fires at night at the edge of the basket, and crabs in the nearby water see the light of the fire and go to the light, burrow into the basket, and catch it. Because the estuary often has gates closed, the name of the hairy crab is also derived from this. Volume 10 of the "Wu County", Hua Jili, records: "Crabs of all kinds, out of the Taihu Lake, large and yellow, soft shell, known as lake crabs, winter increasingly fat, called October male." "Taihu Lake crab is large in size, with a green back and a white belly, a yellow hairy golden hook, a tender flesh, and a yellow fat, which is no less than the famous Yangcheng Lake hairy crab." Wuxi old saying is called "September umbilicus October tip", it is said that after the cold dew in September to eat female crabs, October lidong around to choose male crabs, Taihu lake crabs up to half a pound, male cream more, female yellow solid, meat head is also particularly strong, the so-called "Aofeng tender jade double full, shell convex red fat block incense." If the Taihu lake crab can get seven or eight two, one male and one female, it is called a pair of crabs, which is a superior product.
Photo by Zhang Ying
Autumn is the best season to eat crabs, "crabs stand in winter, no trace", once the winter crabs are very few, in the old days, people in order to be able to eat crabs in the cold winter solstice spring, usually need to put crabs into the crab before the winter solstice, and then put some straw roots, and then seal the mouth, and then take out the crabs before and after the Spring Festival, the crabs are still alive, but the mouth is not as yellow as the autumn crabs.
The "Collection of Dietary Systems of Yunlintang" records the practice and eating method of hairy crab: "Cook with ginger, perilla, cinnamon (orange peel), and salt." Only the fire (big) boiled through and turned over, and then a big boiled through. Where the crab is boiled, the spin boiling is better, at the rate of one person, only two can be boiled, and the boil has been re-cooked. "It still seems to be a very classic practice today.
Steamed crab is also a common practice in the Gangnam region. Steamed crab heat is very important to master, the time is short, the crab yellow crab paste is not solidified; for a long time, the crab meat becomes hard, not tender, and there is no sweet feeling when eating. In fact, steaming hairy crabs still has some tricks, first boil the water in the steamer, and then tie the bundled hairy crabs body up, back to the bottom, this is to prevent the crab yellow paste from coming out. Cut the ginger into slices and place on the crab to remove the fishy smell. Steam on medium heat for about 18 minutes, the crab body turns red, and the aroma overflows.
Eat crab while it is hot, otherwise it will have a fishy taste when it is cold. When eating, prepare a bowl of ginger shredded with vinegar and a little sugar seasoning for half an hour, so that the taste of ginger is fully dissolved into the vinegar, why do you want to do this? Because the cold of hairy crabs is too heavy, ginger happens to be cold, so the taste of ginger must be soaked out, so that you are not afraid of the cold of hairy crabs is too serious.
Feng Zikai wrote in "Remembering Childhood": "Eating crab is a graceful thing, and the way of eating must be an expert to understand... Fold the crab's feet first, then open the crab bucket... How can the flesh in the fist (i.e. joint) on the foot be eaten clean, how the meat in the umbilicus can be removed... The claws can be used as needles to pick flesh... The whole bone of the crab can be put together into a very beautiful butterfly..."
In addition to steamed crabs, Wuxi's traditional famous dishes of fried shrimp and crabs and dried crab shrimp balls also come in season, and the taste is just right. The best of course is the fried crab bladder oil, which is the signature dish of Wuxi for a hundred years in late autumn. The essence of the ruddy, shiny, fat crab is full of the colors and rhythms of the golden autumn, which is the gift of autumn to the water country... It can be said that the fried crab bladder oil is the best in Wuxi cuisine, first of all, the raw material, the cream of the crab is the most full and just right in the golden autumn in October, in the cooking, slightly added soy sauce, ivory color, salty slightly sweet, belongs to the typical Wuxi taste. The sweetness, softness and fatness of this dish can be called out of print, which is really unparalleled.
In addition, made into drunken crab that is a unique flavor, the year before was also selected as a landmark dish in Jiangsu, of course, deserved, as early as 670 years ago in Jiangnan's only late Yuan and early Ming dynasty food classics "Yunlintang Diet System Collection" has a special record. There is also a crab powder, which is not crab meat, but it is like crab meat, which is even more charming.
I have to mention that Wuxi's famous dim sum crab powder small cage steamed bun, crab powder must be peeled on the same day to use up, other seasons are not available, that is the delicacy of autumn.
Editor-in-charge: XiaoNan
Proofreader: Xiao Nguyen
Editor: Zhu Yan
Source: Jiangnan Evening News