Steamed hairy crab with ginger tea
Hairy crabs at their peak, steamed on perilla leaves and ginger, dipped in ginger-laced Zhejiang vinegar and followed by a cup of brown sugar ginger tea — sweet and warming.
- 40 min
- Serves 2
- Steam
- Easy
Why it suits you: A balanced constitution simply needs to eat with the season. Hairy crabs are at their plumpest at Hanlu, full of roe, but crab is cold by nature, so it always comes with ginger and perilla. Perilla counters seafood's ill effects, ginger vinegar warms the stomach and cuts the richness, and brown sugar ginger tea afterwards protects digestion. One or two crabs each is plenty.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 25 min- 1Scrub the crab shells and claws under running water with a soft brush, leaving the straw ties on.
- 2Slice half the ginger and finely grate the rest. Mix the grated ginger with the vinegar and 1 tsp of the sugar for dipping.
- 3Line a plate with the perilla leaves and ginger slices, lay the crabs on top belly side up and steam over boiling water on a high heat for 15–18 minutes until the shells turn bright red.
- 4Meanwhile, bruise the remaining ginger slices and simmer with the red dates, remaining sugar and water for 15 minutes to make the ginger tea.
- 5Untie the crabs, pick out the meat and dip it in the ginger vinegar, then finish with a cup of warm ginger tea.
Cautions
- Avoid if you're allergic to shellfish. Crab is cold, so skip it with weak digestion, diarrhoea, a cold or a fever; go easy on the roe if your cholesterol is high, and never eat a crab that died before cooking.
Chef's tips
- Steam the crabs belly side up so the roe doesn't run out. Choose lively crabs that feel heavy for their size, with glossy greenish shells.
The TCM view
Crab is salty and cold, entering the liver and stomach, clearing heat, dispersing stasis and nourishing the sinews — the Mingyi Bielu says it 'resolves knots, disperses blood and nourishes the sinews', and Meng Shen advised eating it with vinegar to 'ease the joints and clear oppression from the organs'. Perilla and ginger are pungent and warm, warming the middle and countering seafood toxins; brown sugar warms the stomach.
