I’VE yet to meet a crab I didn’t like. On the plate that is, rather than hanging tenaciously from my little toe, in the style of some bawdy Donald McGill seaside postcard. Because this fearsomely clawed crustacean is one of the steadfast stars of the culinary firmament, an endlessly versatile hard-shelled hero that never fails to delight.
In fact, given the choice between thuggish lobster and nimble crab, I’d always plump for the latter. The flesh is more subtle, albeit rather trickier to extract. However, that’s all part of the charm, off-road eating of the most visceral kind; cracking and crunching and picking and sucking. Of course, you can buy your meat ready prepared, but that means you miss out on all that messy, mucky fun.
As to my favourite, I couldn’t say. Some days, I dream of the hairy crab (also known as the Chinese mitten crab) at Victoria City Seafood in Hong Kong, where the lights are as bright as the produce is peerless. They come into season from late autumn to early winter, with the most sought-after found in Yangcheng Lake, near Shanghai. Demand is high, and prices, too, as much as £100 per kilo. Which means, inevitably, there’s also a thriving market in counterfeit crustacea. Simply steamed and served with a ginger-and-vinegar dipping sauce, their roe is buttery and lasciviously rich, their flesh sweet as a first kiss.
This story is from the June 09, 2021 edition of Country Life UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 09, 2021 edition of Country Life UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Too divine
Four actresses earn the plaudits this month, for parts ranging from Sarah Siddons to Charlotte Bronté
Stashed away
The vast collection of the late George Withers, encompassing everything from Prattware pot lids to barometers, doubles up as a guide to the mid-market collecting fancies of the past 60 years
Parsley of Macedon
Not quite a native, alexanders can taste like joss stick-tainted celery or sweetly spiced parsnips, depending on your method, warns John Wright
A hungry heart
A man who strove, sought and found, Wassily Kandinsky pioneered not one, but two artistic movements against the tumultuous backdrop of early-20thcentury Europe, as Holly Black relates
Royal favours
AFTER much speculation as to what might be the favourite flower Her of Elizabeth II, the truth was revealed at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2019.
Smart thinking
A private family garden near Godalming in Surrey How does a garden design begin? With a lot of questions and by finding a central theme says James Alexander-Sinclair
Escape to the hills
These four houses in the county of Surrey can offer the best of both worlds: rural settings and easy access to London
A little help from your friends
Driven to distraction by paint charts? A colour consultant could be the answer for anyone befuddled by choosing the right hue
A (crab) apple a day
They may be too tart to eat, but crab apples can be made into all sorts of good things, from jellies to salves, and may even have been Adam and Eve's forbidden fruit, says Ian Morton
The sound of centuries past
The past 50 years have seen an energetic revival of the instruments that would have been played in Bach's day. Henrietta Bredin meets players fascinated by the noises Baroque composers would have heard