Beijingkids has been an essential family resource for Beijing international families since 2006. And just as kids grow up in the blink of an eye, Beijing has grown and changed almost beyond recognition in that time. In Throwback Thursday we jump in the time machine, traveling through our 14 year-strong blog archives to dig out the most entertaining, fascinating, and thought-provoking stories for your reading pleasure. Ready? Let’s go…

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The ads are up all over town and restaurants are pushing their hairy crab menus like hotcakes. So what’s the big deal with these crabs? They’re tiny, expensive, and it would take at least two dozen of these tiny suckers to even amount to a decent sized lunch. So why are locals so obsessed with them?

First of all, unlike Alaskan king crabs or Dungeness crabs where the succulent meat in the legs is the main attraction, hairy crabs are all about the flavor – more specifically, the flavor in the body and not the legs.

In the 17th century, Chinese writer Li Yu wrote of hairy crabs: “While my heart lusts after them and my mouth enjoys their delectable taste (and in my whole life there has not been a single day when I have forgotten them), I can’t even begin to describe or make clear why I love them, why I adore their sweet taste, and why I can never forget them… Dear crab, dear crab, you and I, are we to be lifelong companions?”

Hairy crabs (dàzháxiè, 大闸蟹), also known as Chinese mitten crabs for their furry front claws used for burrowing, are cultivated across eastern and southern China, but the most prized specimens come from Yangcheng Lake in Jiangsu province. Authentic Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs fetch exorbitant prices of up to RMB 700 a kilo, although buyer beware — there is a healthy black market trade in counterfeit crabs.

Authentic Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs are so in demand that they’re packed in combination locked boxes right at the source and the code is only given to the customer once the purchase has been made.

The crabs come into season during the ninth and 10th months of the Chinese lunar calendar – approximately October to December. The female crabs, which ripen first in the ninth month, are prized for their bright orange roe, while the male crabs, which ripen in the 10th month, are favored for their golden, ahem, “essence.” Food writer Fuchsia Dunlop describes the eating experience: “You must pull off the legs and claws, prise open the shells and scrape, pick, suck and crunch until you have extracted every last, delicious morsel.”

Alternatively, being such an expensive and seasonal delicacy, hairy crabs are a perfect way to show your dining guests that you are a straight-up baller. Why say it with Chateau Lafite when you can say it with RMB 1,500 worth of crabs?

Alternatively, and I am wildly speculating here, it could be something to do with the lengthy and intricate eating process (for more on the best way to get the most meat out of your hairy crabs, see this CNN article) – I have witnessed people spend nearly an hour getting every single last morsel of meat out of just one crab. Dining out is still the primary form of social gathering for many people in China, rather than, say, a trip to a pub as we might enjoy in the UK. A big dish of hairy crabs, or something similar like mala crayfish, allows – hey, practically requires – ample time for conversation, banter, and multiple rounds of Yanjing.

More stories by this author here.

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