Taihu Crabs

Taihu Crabs

Taihu Crabs are a protected geographical indication product.

　　　　Product Name: Taihu Crabs

　　　　Product Origin: Taihu Lake Area, Huzhou

　　　　Product Season: From Cold Dew to Beginning of Winter

　　　　Product Characteristics: Rich crab roe, tender and delicate meat, exceptionally rich in flavor.

　　　　Product Components: Rich in protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, riboflavin, thiamine, and more.

　　　　Product Efficacy: Highly medicinal, capable of dispersing blood stasis, relaxing tendons and healing bones, detoxifying. Crab claws also have the function of inducing labor.

　　　　Product Introduction: Taihu Crabs, grown in the waters of Taihu Lake, are also known as crabs. Their hard shells are ridged and dark bluish-black, resembling a tiger’s back, while their bellies are greenish-white. Males have pointed abdomens, females rounded ones, and both have stiff hairs underneath. Crabs are migratory creatures. Each autumn and winter, when two-year-old crabs reach sexual maturity, they migrate downstream in groups to the shallow coastal areas where rivers meet the sea to breed, then spend the rest of their lives there. The following early summer, the hatched crab larvae swim upstream against the current back to the Taihu Lake area, where they settle. After multiple molts, they gradually grow, becoming large crabs the next year. Taihu Crabs are large and heavy. Traditional ways of eating them include steaming, boiling, pan-frying with noodles, soaking in liquor, and pickling. After extracting the crabmeat, it can be used to make famous dishes and snacks such as Crabmeat Lion’s Head, Peacock Shrimp and Crab, Crab Oil Crystal Balls, Stir-Fried Crab Roe, and Crab Roe Xiao Long Bao (steamed dumplings). As the saying goes: “When crab flavors grace the table, all other tastes pale.”

　　　　Product History: China’s coastal areas are home to many renowned crab-producing regions, but those of Yangcheng Lake and Taihu Lake have always been the most famous, each with its own distinctive qualities. According to the *Taihu Lake Records*, “Those from Taihu Lake are large, yellowish in color, with hard shells, superior to those from other sources, and grow richer in flavor as winter approaches, hence called ‘Ten-Day Braves.’” Taihu Crabs are particularly distinguished from those of Yangcheng Lake by their larger size, firmer meat, richer oil, and more abundant roe, dominating the market. People liken Yangcheng Lake crabs to “delicate ladies,” while Taihu Crabs are the “rugged strongmen.”

　　　　Product Anecdote: In *Dream of the Red Chamber*, Cao Xueqin, through the poetry recital at the Chrysanthemum Poetry Gathering featuring Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, and Xue Baochai, captures the very essence of crabs as well as his own nostalgia for crab feasting and chrysanthemum viewing. Baoyu’s verse: “Holding a crab claw, I bask in osmanthus shade, / With vinegar and ginger, my spirits run ablaze. / The gluttonous five should drink their fill, / But the swaggering crab has no heart or will. / Its navel chilled, I forget all restraint, / My fingers reek, yet still the scent remains. / For mankind’s delight in fine food it’s bred, / Even Su Dongpo laughed at life so led.” Daiyu’s verse: “Ironclad and armed, it dies unyielding, / On the plate, its beauty tempts me to begin. / Clawfuls of jade, both plump and fair, / Shell convex with red fat, each piece rare. / Its tender meat makes me love its eight feet more, / Who’ll ply me with wine to heighten the delight I adore? / To this fine fare I toast the festive day, / While osmanthus stirs in breeze, chrysanthemums veiled in gray.” Baochai’s verse: “In osmanthus-scented shade we raise our cups, / Longing in Chang’an for Double Ninth to come up. / No rules guide the paths before our eyes, / Just hollow black and yellow beneath their lies.”