'Tis the Season... for Hairy Crab!

Both my parents are Shanghainese so traditions such as hairy crab feasts at home are rooted deep. In fact, I'll go as far to say that I have never eaten hairy crabs outside of a home environment! 

Autumn (October and November) is prime time to dig into these little critters- formally known as 'mitten crabs' or 'dai jap hai' in Cantonese and generally sourced from the Yangcheng (陽澄湖) and Taihu (太湖) Lakes. 

My mother is quite loyal to buying her crabs from Wah Kee Foods - 460 Lockhart Rd, Causeway Bay, Tel: 2836 6411. The crabs can come as cheap as $30 each and go up $300. For the full experience and decent size, I wouldn't recommend anything less than $130 per crab. 

The 3 key things to look for when buying your crabs are: 

1) Clear, black, and responsive eyes - yes, go ahead and give them a poke! 

2) A white, fat belly - here you will also determine the gender of your crab. Female crabs are in the prime early in their season and have abundant orange, chewier roe. Male crabs are the literal kings of the crops, with the runny sweet roe highly coveted.

3) Bubbling/frothing and giving you an angry glare is generally a good sign!

A good store will be able to guide you well in your selection. They will also provide you with all the condiments needed to cook and serve your crabs! This will include:

• Perilla leaf to place with the crabs while steaming - both are meant to neutralise the 'cooling' aka 'Yin' effect of the crabs 
• Black Zhejiang rice vinegar and brown sugar, to be mixed with finely minced ginger to use as dipping sauce. A general ratio is 1/4 cup vinegar to 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 teaspoon minced ginger.

Find instructions for steaming and eating the crabs after the jump!

An Oyster Afternoon

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.” 

― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

A week ago, I was treated to a little oyster gathering at Secret Ingredient under the guise of a photo shoot.  We learned to shuck and taste 6 varieties of oysters paired with a crisp white wine (Chenin Blanc, Champagne, and Chablis all make excellent pairings). We slurped them down with a squeeze of lemon or a dash of Hog Wash (a mignonette variation close to my heart as it devised by the folks at Hog Island Oyster in my home-state, California).

Below is my and Secret Ingredient owner, Max's, favourite- the Kumamoto. These small oysters are delicate, creamy and sweet. It took a lot of self-control not to finish all half dozen of them myself. 

For more tips on choosing oysters and a brief introduction to the different types, head on over to Secret Ingredients blog here! Below is the recipe to the Hog Wash mignonette I was raving about. A bit of tang, a bit of a kick, a lot of yum.

HOG WASH (for a dozen oysters) 

• 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar 
• 1/4 cup natural rice vinegar 
• 1 large shallot, peeled and finely diced 
• 1 large Jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced 
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped 
• Juice of 1 lime

Here's proof a good afternoon...