Mad about crabs

Food-loving Chinese are so fond of hairy crabs that a popular folk adage goes, 'When the autumn wind blows, the legs of crab itch. Smell the chrysanthemums, and savor the crabs.' Photos by Dong Fangyu / China Daily

Seasonal crustaceans from Yangcheng Lake are highlights on Chinese menus now. Dong Fangyu gets to the sweet meat of the matter with a master chef in Beijing.

The first chill of fall signals that one of nature's annual delicacies, hairy crabs, are back in season. The roe now becomes rich and reddish-orange, the meat tender and firm. Food-loving Chinese are so fond of hairy crabs that a popular folk adage goes, "When the autumn wind blows, the legs of crab itch. Smell the chrysanthemums, and savor the crabs."

To celebrate the crustacean, many restaurants in Beijing are giving the crab star billing in the dining room. We visited Noble Court, a Cantonese restaurant eager to lure crab fans with a few new creations on three different set menus as well as a variety of a la carte dishes. We tried the medium-priced nine-course menu, 800 yuan ($131) per person.

The appealing appetizer, chilled crabmeat jelly with Chinese aged rice wine from Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, is delicate but a magnet for our attention. The crabmeat is embedded in the cold jelly stewed with rice wine, a favorite warmer for the stomach at crab feasts.

The roasted suckling pig, marinated rhombus bean with black garlic and braised baby eggplant with homemade sauce also ignited our taste buds. Then the double-boiled wild-bamboo pith soup with fresh matsutake mushroom was a standout, with its aromatic warmth and smoothness whetting our appetites for the important dish: steamed hairy crabs.