Hairy Crab in Hong Kong Ripe for Restaurant Season

Shanghainese hairy crab season has begun across Hong Kong.

It runs in the ninth and tenth lunar months, from October through to the end of the year. These seasonal treats are prized for their clean, sweet flesh and rich, flavor-packed roe: The females mature earlier, while the males get most tasty towards the end of the season. The most prized varieties come from Yangcheng lake in eastern China, and fake versions are widely sold on the mainland.

HK Magazine rounds up the best of where to dine on the delicacy.

Steaming into Tradition
Specially selected crabs from Jiangsu will be gracing plates at the New World Millennium Hong Kong Hotel from this month until the end of December. At Tao Li, head chef So Kei-pak is preparing steamed Jiangsu hairy crab with perilla leaves paired with Zhenjiang vinegar, which is about as traditional as it gets. And it’s not all about taste—So brags that hairy crabs are high in nutrition, chock full of protein, amino acids and calcium. The menu at Tao Li also has a number of crab roe dishes, from deep-fried crispy rice topped with hairy crab to braised egg white dumplings with hairy crab roe.
2/F, New World Millennium Hong Kong Hotel, 72 Mody Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui East, 2313-4225.

A Royal Feast
The Royal Plaza Hotel’s Di King Heen is cooking up their hairy crab set menu once again this October ($628 per head), which features two 4.5 tael (170g) male crabs from the venerable Taihu lake west of Suzhou. If you’re after a runnier, flavorsome roe you can upgrade to two females for an additional $130. The rest of the menu features a deliciously cholesterol-busting seven courses, all including various forms of crab roe: from xiaolongbao to jumbo tiger prawns doused in crab roe and gold leaf, before rounding off with dessert (strawberry cake—no crab here). Not feeling quite that into roe? You can also order all of the dishes a la carte.
Available daily, Oct 1-Nov 15. Di King Heen, Royal Plaza Hotel, 3/F, 193 Prince Edward Rd. West, Prince Edward, 2622-6161.

Steamed hairy crab at Di King Heen

Relative Claws
From the middle of this month to mid-November at The Hyatt Regency in Tsim Sha Tsui, The Chinese Restaurant’s head chef Lo Kwai-kai will showcase a series of hairy crab dishes. Lo’s plates play on both autumn and traditional Chinese cooking, offering hairy crab on pumpkin and also hairy crab dumplings. Diners can also order Cantonese-influenced dishes, which include a braised egg noodle and fried rice. Of course, you can just go all out and order a steamed whole hairy crab on its own.
3/F, 18 Hanoi Rd., Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui, 3721-7788.