Author: Tianya loves science
According to the Shanghai Morning News, on the day of national day, Mr. Ding, a Shanghai citizen, invited guests to dinner, and in order to show hospitality, he specially spent hundreds of yuan to buy 10 hairy crabs of 3 or 2 female and 4 male specifications. (Mr. Ding said that small-sized crabs can't get on the table), at that time in the market looked good, strong and fierce, did not expect to open the dinner table to see, 10 crabs in the actual 5 are empty, the other 5 crab meat is not much. Shanghai people eat crab, originally love knives and forks and swords to solemnize their affairs, and now a table of guests can only look at each other with empty shells, which is really lonely. Mr. Ding was also nagged several times by his wife that he would not buy crabs.
Another Mr. Xiao also had a similar experience, october 1st bought to treat most of the crabs were dumped, the 2nd day, has not yet passed the crab addiction he went to buy crabs, because he is eating himself, he bought 1 two to 2 two cheap crabs, did not expect to be steamed after peeling a look, all crab yellow crab cream full, although small but full of oil, the taste is very delicious. Excited Mr. Xiao couldn't help but send a circle of friends to teach everyone the secret of buying crabs: buy small, not buy big.
Why is it that a big crab of thirty or forty yuan cannot beat a small crab of 8 yuan? Could it be that the hairy crabs in the Shanghai National Day market are fake hairy crabs?
In fact, the big crab is really a hairy crab, but nowadays it is not a good time to eat big crab. According to Cheng Yongxu, a professor at Shanghai Ocean University, hairy crabs molt 19-20 times during the growth process, and the last molt determines the size and size of the crab. The larger the size of the general crab, the later the time of the last molting, after the crab molts the last time, it takes a period of time to long meat and long crab yellow crab paste, so the big crab grows long and the good time is later than the small and medium crab, such as 3 two females and 4 two male crabs than one or two crabs. Generally speaking, the best time to go to market is the 9th month of the female crab lunar calendar male crab 10 months, so the folk are known as "nine and ten males" saying. According to the new history, the best time to eat crab this year should be from the end of October to November.
Because large crabs can sell at a good price and the profit is higher than that of small crabs, from farmers to merchants, they hope that customers will buy large crabs. This year's harvest is good, the supply of crabs is large, if you wait until the centralized listing, the price will inevitably not go up. Therefore, some farmers take advantage of the current Golden Week, although the crab has not yet grown, or catch it in advance.
However, local knowledgeable people know that these big crabs can hardly come from southern Jiangsu, why is this?
Hairy crabs are scientifically known as the Chinese river crab, in China, from the Pearl River in the south to the Liao River in the north, everywhere, but the Yangtze River Delta region is the most famous. The Yangcheng Lake hairy crab in the Yangtze River Delta is famous all over the world, but including many Suzhou natives, they cannot eat the real Yangcheng Lake hairy crab. A Suzhou native once said that the crabs in the world, in addition to the crabs in Yangcheng Lake, do not eat, as long as the other crabs are lake crabs, they will generally eat, because the Hairy Crab Market in Yangcheng Lake has no to sell at all. Another gentleman who raises hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake himself said that he does not recommend eating now, and he never sells in the circle of friends, because the authentic Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs are not worried about selling at all, and almost in the lake, people have ordered it in advance.
Yangcheng Lake
According to locals, the authentic Yangcheng Lake hairy crab production is about 1,000 tons a year, and the farms around the lake have to eat tens of thousands of tons a year, how many people can eat the authentic Yangcheng Lake hairy crab? This kind of folk data is even higher than the official data. In 2021, the climatic conditions are better, and the growth of hairy crabs is gratifying. According to the forecast of Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the annual output of hairy crabs is about 10,940 tons, of which the aquaculture area in the lake area is 16,000 mu, the output is only 1,575 tons, and the pond culture area around the lake is 72,600 mu, with an output of about 9,365 tons. This figure is much less than the sales of the Farm Stay around the lake. Why?
Originally, the Hairy Crab in the Yangtze River Delta was divided into two production areas, in addition to southern Jiangsu, more production came from northern Jiangsu, especially taizhou Xinghua. Although Suzhou hairy crabs are famous all over the world, the title of "the first county of river crab farming in China" is worn on the head of Xinghua. According to reports, in 2021, the output of Xinghua hairy crabs will exceed 80,000 tons, with an output value of about 4.45 billion yuan, ranking first in the country's output, and there has always been a saying that "8 crabs in the country, 1 is only Xinghua crabs".
Xinghua hairy crab breeding area
Xinghua crab production is not only high, but also very good quality. Hairy crabs of many brands were selected as "China's Top Ten Famous Crabs" and won the "China Famous Crab Gold Award". Only because of historical reasons, the name has not been as loud as the hairy crab in southern Jiangsu, and the price is far less than that of southern Jiangsu. Because the taste is not bad, whenever the Xinghua hairy crab is about to be harvested, many traders have purchased it, and then put it in Yangcheng Lake and its surrounding breeding areas, this crab, the local jargon calls it "bath crab".
In fact, whether it is Xinghua crab or Yangcheng Lake hairy crab, as long as it is old enough, the taste is actually not much different. I'm afraid that some merchants will catch the shelves before the crab grows strong and grows in order to grab the "head soup".