When is the best season for hairy crabs? Can I eat in January and February? (with crab eating schedule for the four seasons)

Hairy crab (Chinese mitten crab) is a famous delicacy in China for a long time. Its chelate feet are used for feeding and resistance to the enemy, and the inner and outer edges of the palm are densely fluffy, hence the name Eriocheir sinensis. So when is the best season to eat hairy crabs? Can I eat in January and February? Now organize the crab eating schedule for you all the year round.

When is the best time to eat hairy crabs

Hairy crabs are rich in fragrance, tasty red, fresh meat and rich nutrition, and are loved by everyone. The golden season of eating hairy crabs every year is only 4 months, and if you miss once, you will miss a year. The rest of the time hairy crabs are not yet mature, in the breeding stage.

August to November is the best time to eat hairy crabs. As the saying goes, nine females and ten males, so it is best to eat female crabs in September and male crabs in October. The female is golden, the male is like a white jade, and the taste is delicious. Of course, according to the climate of the year, the crab feet itch in the autumn wind, early and late in autumn have an impact. Old Shanghai is used to blowing northwest wind and eating hairy crabs. In recent years, with global warming, the cold wave in the south of the Yangtze River has been postponed to around New Year's Day. At this time, hairy crabs enter the late stage, the yield is reduced, not only the quality is low, but also the price is high.

Crab eating schedule throughout the year

From the end of September to before the Spring Festival: Yangtze River crabs

Nine females and ten males are the most suitable.

Every year when the autumn wind is valiant, it is the time when hairy crabs flood onto the tip of the diner's tongue. Wang Chenghui said that the crab migration season (from Cold Dew to early November) is the best season to eat crabs. During this period, the crab meat is thick, tender, delicious and delicious, which is the most delicious of the year. And this period is the mature edible period of Yangtze River crabs in China.

The Yangtze River Basin is the main producing area of crabs in China, such as Yangcheng Lake hairy crab, Qidong crab, Taihu crab, Subei crab and so on. Hairy crabs experience molting and growth many times in their life, and Yangtze River crabs are on the market one after another at the end of September.

To eat crabs in autumn, it is necessary to distinguish between male and female in order to enjoy the most delicious crab feast in this season. The so-called "nine females and ten males" means that in the ninth month of the lunar calendar, the female crab is the fattest, the crab roe is full and firm, and the male crab in the tenth lunar month is the most fragrant and full of crab paste, so it is most suitable to eat crabs and enjoy chrysanthemum.

Spring Festival to the end of April: temporarily raise hairy crabs

Taste and nutrition are difficult to guarantee.

In order to realize people's desire to eat crabs all year round, temporary hairy crabs appear, that is, some autumn mature hairy crabs are temporarily raised in a specific low temperature environment through science and technology, and then put on the market again in off-season to solve the lovesickness of crab addicts.

It is difficult to raise hairy crabs temporarily, not only has the market risk, but also faces the technical difficulty. Wang Chenghui said that hairy crabs are easy to lose fat, and if the culture environment is not good, the quality of the crabs will be affected, the taste will become worse, the crab paste will harden, the crab roe will become less, and the nutrients will be lost. In order to maintain the taste, breeders need to strengthen the provision of animal bait, while cooling can be taken to delay the development of crab gonads, "so that energy and nutrition can be preserved longer."

Crabs are temporarily raised in the wrong season, so crab hoarders usually wait for temporary crabs to be sold after the Spring Festival, so that hairy crabs can be put on the table in spring.

From the end of April to the middle of June: wild hairy crabs from Russia and North Korea

The best taste period is short.

You may not expect that at this time of year, crabs are not out of touch. With the prosperity of border trade transactions, wild border trade crabs from Russia and North Korea have crossed regional restrictions and appeared on the table of diners in China.

Wang Chenghui said that the frontal teeth (four teeth) of Russian and Korean hairy crabs are flatter than those of Chinese hairy crabs in the Yangtze River valley, and they grow in a pure wild environment without any artificial breeding, so the growth environment is difficult to guarantee, so the taste varies from year to year.

Because of the high latitude and low temperature, the wild hairy crabs of Russia and North Korea will not be fully mature until the third year, so the yield is very low, and the crabs have the habit of reproductive migration. Russian and Korean hairy crabs migrate from the end of April to the middle of June. the best taste period is relatively short, so we have to taste it in that season.

From mid-June to the end of August: June Yellow

Thin shell and fresh meat

"when you are busy, don't forget June Huang." this folk proverb is a compliment of diners on June Huang. June yellow is the "little fresh meat" of hairy crabs, also known as "boy crabs". It is a hairy crab in adolescence and is often on the market in mid-June every year.

Wang Chenghui says that June Huang is known as the "green crab." it has the characteristics of small size (usually about 2 taels of weight), thin and crisp shell, delicious taste, heavy smell, and less meat. It can be tasted in this short crab season.

This period mainly eats male crabs, but at this time the female crabs are still very small, about one or two, and are not suitable for consumption. Because it is still "underage", June Huang has no crab paste, only crab roe. Although the hairy crab is not as big as the adult hairy crab, it is different from the hard crab roe of the adult hairy crab. The June yellow crab roe is fresh and delicious, picking out the bloated crab body and the June yellow crab belly, so as to relieve the craving by "noodle towing June yellow" and "June yellow Stir-Fried Rice Cake".

When to eat crabs is the best schedule to eat crabs all the year round

The end of August to the end of September: Liaohe Crab

Slightly smaller in size

Liaohe crab and Yangtze River crab are both river crabs, Yangtze River crabs are southern crabs, and Liaohe crabs are often called northern crabs. According to the law of reproductive migration and local climate characteristics of Liaohe crab, Liaohe crab has been on the market one after another at the end of August, and September is the peak fishing period.

Under normal circumstances, the Liaohe crab is smaller than the Yangtze River crab, because the temperature in the Yangtze River basin makes the Yangtze River crab molt more than the Liao River crab every year, so it grows once more. But in recent years, in order to pursue the growth of the size of Liaohe crabs, many breeders will raise some crabs for 2-3 years before fishing and sale, and the specifications can also be compared with those of Yangtze River crabs.

Wang Chenghui said that as long as the crab culture environment is high-quality, the aquatic products are rich, the water quality is clear, and there is more animal bait, the Liaohe crab can also become a high-quality hairy crab with green shell and white belly and golden claws and yellow hair.