The chrysanthemum crab is fat and autumn is thick, and it is time to eat the "first crab of autumn".
Subway stations, elevator rooms... Delicious and tempting hairy crab advertisements can be seen everywhere. The fat and fragrant crab yellow crab paste, as if to overflow the screen, makes people can't help but tongue and stupid.
Speaking of crab eating, in addition to the steaming method that everyone is familiar with, the drunken crab in Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine has also been particularly favored in recent years, and many mainstream media such as CCTV have invariably reported and promoted it in a large length.
Wang Zengqi, a "gourmet in the literary world", once called drunken crab "the world's first delicacy".
What is the charm of drunken crabs?
Shaoxing drunken crab
The first brand of Shaoxing cuisine "drunken series"
The area around Jiangsu and Zhejiang is known for its folk tradition of making drunken crabs in the autumn wind.
Shaoxing is the hometown of fish and rice in Jiangnan, and is also the birthplace of Zhejiang cuisine and rice wine, so among the drunken crabs, Shaoxing drunken crabs are the most famous.
According to Zhang Liang, the inheritor of Shaoxing drunken crab making skills and the founder of the Shaoxing cuisine brand of Treasure Hunt, Shaoxing cuisine has ten major flavors, of which drunken flavor, the most famous is Shaoxing drunken crab.
The traditional Shaoxing drunken crab is generally a raw drunken crab, that is, the crab that has just faded its shell is washed, thrown into a sauce jar made of rice wine, soy sauce and sugar, and placed in a cool place to marinate for three or five days. Under the action of time, the slightly sweet and delicate aroma of rice wine and the rich sweet aroma of hairy crab gradually complement each other, and the warmth of rice wine neutralizes the cold of crabs.
The drunken crab made by this method, the shape color is like a raw crab, the crab shell is peeled off, the crab meat is translucent light blue, the crab yellow is bright and dripping, the tenderness of the crab meat is mixed with the rich wine aroma to form a unique taste, gently suck a bite, the whole person is drunk.
But despite its delicious taste, raw drunken crab is too "raw" for people outside jiangsu and Zhejiang. Coupled with the gradual improvement of people's health concepts, the catering brands represented by Treasure Hunt have begun to innovate the traditional drunken crab, making it more healthy and delicious at the same time, but also more universal.
Shaoxing drunken crab from "raw" to "cooked"
CCTV and other mainstream media on fire
Compared with the traditional raw drunken crab, Treasure Hunt recommends that people eat cooked drunken crab, that is, use steamed crab to make drunken crab.
This is undoubtedly a bold innovation for generations of Jiangsu and Zhejiang people who are accustomed to eating raw and drunken crabs.
In this regard, Zhang Liang, who insists on walking on the road of Shaoxing cuisine "Shouzheng out of the new", explained that the reason for the innovative use of cooked crabs to make drunken crabs is mainly based on two factors: the first is that food safety is greater than the sky, and the cooked crabs that have been steamed at high temperatures are safer and healthier; the second is that the nutritional elements of the steamed crabs are stable and better maintain the original taste of the crabs.
In order to better meet the tastes of a new generation of consumers, Treasure Hunt has also innovated the sauce used to soak drunken crabs, adding spices such as star anise, cinnamon, fennel, nutmeg and other spices to the traditional sauce made of soy sauce, rice wine and sugar, and also creatively adding fresh orange slices and other fruits, which can not only add flavor and freshness, but also remove the fishy smell of crabs.
"The cooked drunken crab of the treasure hunt is sweet and fresh, the crab yellow and crab meat become delicate and tight because it is cooked, but it is not tender, and the crab yellow crab paste also becomes sandy and fragrant. The overall taste is no less than that of traditional raw drunken crab, and it is more reassuring to eat. Shaoxing's local veteran diners once commented on the cooked drunken crabs of Treasure Hunt.
Nowadays, driven by treasure hunting, many catering brands in Shaoxing have begun to provide customers with cooked drunken crabs, and even many locals have changed their traditions and made cooked drunken crabs at home.
Shaoxing is a cultural and ecological tourism city in China with the characteristics of Jiangnan Water Town approved by the State Council, and is the hometown of Lu You, Lu Xun and other literary heroes. When more and more tourists punched in Shaoxing, tasted Shaoxing yellow wine, and tasted Shaoxing drunken crabs, Shaoxing drunken crabs gradually walked out of Shaoxing and successfully went out of the circle.
In the past two years, Shaoxing drunken crab has become a "red person" in the eyes of major media, and has successively appeared on CCTV's 2 sets of "Consumption Propositions", Hunan Satellite TV's "Every Day Upward", Zhejiang Satellite TV's "Gourmet Brothers", Jiangxi Satellite TV's "Intangible Cultural Heritage Food", etc., and even "Sanlian Life Weekly" has also made special reports on it, which has aroused the attention of many people inside and outside the industry.
For the reasons why Shaoxing drunken crab is concerned, some insiders believe that Shaoxing yellow wine is not only famous in China, but also widely known in the world, and yellow wine gives drunken crabs the soul, which is not only Shaoxing taste, but also Chinese taste, but also the taste of the world.
Shaoxing drunken crab successfully out of the circle
Keep pace with the times, keep the right and make new, the trend is so
However, the growing attention of shaoxing drunken crabs is not only because "yellow wine gives drunken crabs souls", but also for deeper reasons.
The first reason is that with the development of social economy, the improvement of people's income level, and the development of logistics and transportation, eating crabs, especially eating hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake, has gradually become a national fashion. The drunken crab method is novel and has a unique taste, so it is easy to attract attention.
The crab used in the treasure hunt is the hairy crab of Yangcheng Lake, and it is directly harvested from Baohu Lake. As early as 9 years ago, Treasure Hunt reached a cooperation with the Ecological Aquatic Products Professional Cooperative of Humble Crab Garden in Yangcheng Lake Town, Xiangcheng District, Suzhou, and became its cooperative breeder.
The second reason is that in recent years, Shaoxing cuisine as a whole is in the rising stage of innovative development, and the circle of Shaoxing drunken crab is actually a microcosm and representative of Shaoxing cuisine's "shouzheng out of the new".
According to media reports, a few years ago, shaoxing's local catering market was still the world of foreign fast food and foreign cuisine, and there were not many restaurant companies focusing on Shaoxing cuisine. Because in the eyes of Shaoxing people, Shaoxing cuisine is not high-end and atmospheric, and it can be done at home, why do you have to go outside to eat?
However, Zhang Liang believes that Shaoxing cuisine is an important birthplace of Zhejiang cuisine, and it has formed ten classic flavors so far, which is a treasure worth excavating. If it can be innovated and upgraded to make it more in line with the current consumption trends and concepts, Shaoxing cuisine will certainly be able to develop.
In order to do a good job in Shaoxing cuisine, Zhang Liang invited Mao Tianyao, the master of Zhejiang cuisine and the non-hereditary heir of Shaoxing cuisine, to do guidance, and also invited huang Qiyun, an international culinary master and Michelin chef, as the head of dish research and development.
As soon as the master struck, he knew if there was one. Treasure Hunt "Master Team" in accordance with the concept of "Shouzheng out of the new" developed the new Shaoxing cuisine, such as Shaoxing flower carving drunken lobster, Shao Sanxian, plum vegetable stewed meat, Shaoxing drunken chicken, flower carving drunken yellow fish, etc., soon became popular in Shaoxing, treasure hunting has also been in the public comments "the city's food hot list", "Shaoxing hot search list" and other lists.
With the joint efforts of more and more Shaoxing cuisine brands, Shaoxing cuisine has gradually risen in the Shaoxing catering market. According to a set of data released by local media, Shaoxing cuisine accounted for 56.17% of the city's Chinese restaurants from 18.36% in 2017 to 49.62% in 2019, and has reached 56.17% by 2020. Whether it is on the streets of Shaoxing or in public reviews, Shaoxing cuisine has become a well-deserved protagonist.
In 2019 and 2020, the first and second "China Local Cuisine Development Conference" was held in Shaoxing for two consecutive years, and catering people from various provinces and cities gathered together to discuss the development path of local cuisine brands. Shaoxing cuisine has become a rising star and has attracted the attention of catering people across the country.
From being snubbed by locals to attracting the attention of the whole country, the rise of Shaoxing cuisine is indeed worthy of deep consideration by every local cuisine catering person. And this is the deeper reason behind Shaoxing's drunken crab out of the circle.