Searching for my Guardian Angel

Monday, December 01, 2008

FINALLY EXAM IS OVER!!! Wah, a two week exam is like so damn long curfew. I hate to drag such things, usually finish it the earlier the betta ma. No?!

Before my last paper, my dad came back from work at Shanghai. He used to bring back "braised" stuff like chix wing, duck wing, chicken feet (damn ugly but taste damn nice) and "special egg". I really dunoe the formal name for this eggie, looks chiao tat egg and tastes like tea leaf egg but is like 1000X betta!!! This time, he bought like 50 eggs for me (vacummely packed so i assume can keep long long).

This time, of all the delicacies in China, he brought back da4 za2 xie4 aka Chinese mitten crab aka hairy crab and aka horny crab(ok maybe not the last name).

Extracted from Wiki:

In contrast, the crab is a famous delicacy in Shanghai cuisine and is prized for the female crab's ovaries. The crab meat is believed by the Chinese to have a "cooling" (yin) effect on the body. Concerns have been raised that the population and origin of the crab may be affected because of overfishing of the species in the Yangtze River. Today Yangcheng Lake is the most famous area for the Chinese mitten crabs, however, the original species had been extirpated by the early 1990s. All you can find in Yangcheng Lake nowadays is a Japanese relative (Eriocheir japonicus[verification needed]) that was introduced around 2000.

Chinese spend hundreds of yuan just to taste a small crab from that lake. But even these are in fact the more robust Japanese mitten crabs, as the original native stock in Yangcheng Lake has disappeared. Most of the Yangcheng crabs are exported to Shanghai and Hong Kong, and high-profit foreign markets. Responding to the spread of the crab to the West, businessmen have started seeing it as the new source of crab for supporting the huge appetite in China market. One proposed scheme involves importing unwanted crabs from Europe, where they are seen as a pest, to replenish local pure-bred stock.

In short, it is a delicacy and therefore must try la! If you tell me scorpion is a delicacy I wont hesitate to try too. ^^

The thing about seafood is to taste it as original as possible to bring out the freshness in it. So we simply steam them and eat with vinegar/ginger. After a whole day of smuggling them over in midst of ice, my dad says they still kick, like real.

Look at those thick, bushy, horny...oops hairy legs~ They sure look like devils but taste like erm, angels. Just kidding! Please don't eat the hair, they are for decor only.

Dont be disappointed by its petite, fugly looking appearance, when u slowly open it, the treasure is all in!!! CRAB ROE CRAB ROE CRAB ROE CRAB ROE CRAB ROE (so much it makes you insane). Now you can fully understand what is dont judge a crab by its cover.

Basically you are eating nothing but crab roe out of it. My shifu at Shanghai says they are sold dirt cheap like RMB8 for one but of coz the top grade ones can go up to RMB100+. My food khaki (dun angry ah Bernard we makan sutra like 99% when we go out lor) says they cost like SGD20+ or near SGD100 for crab meal in restaurant with one pathetic crab. Hmm, apparently everyone ate it before and hides from me!!! All in all, it's so damn nice makes one can die in peace. Hmm, how abt bring over 50 crabs from shanghai next time??? I'M SERIOUS.

pursuing my happiness with passion@| 11:19 PM

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