Hong Kong’s five best places for hairy crab
These highly-prized crustaceans are served in casseroles, stir-fried and, of course, straight from the shell
Hairy crab season is well underway with several restaurants around town offering these small but highly prized crustaceans until late November or early December.
Until November 8, Man Wah, the fine dining Cantonese restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong offers over 15 Shanghainese hairy crab dishes to choose from, such as Chinese wine-marinated crab, stir-fried crystal prawn with crabmeat, and crabmeat wonton and chicken in casserole.
However, many hairy crab connoisseurs prefer extracting the meat straight from the shell, which is where Lin Gangli comes in.
As captain of Cheng Long Hang Crab Palace Restaurant in Shanghai, Lin is at Man Wah to help relieve diners of the tricky task of having to take apart the crab – and she deftly does it in three minutes.