Hairy crabs are a snip at just £14,000

[emad]

Times Online
Oliver August
Connoisseurs are licking their lips at the prospect of tasting the Chinese delicacy sold at a record price


NB NOT a Public Health issue story....

Snip
A PAIR of hairy green mud crabs, crowned King and Queen of their kind at an annual seafood “beauty pageant” in Hong Kong, have been auctioned for more than £14,000 — a reputed record for crustaceans.

Crab meat is considered a delicacy in southern China and many connoisseurs regard the autumn as the best time to eat mud crabs. According to lore, females are best in September when their fat is softest, while males reach their optimum taste in October. The best crabs are fully grown wild ones from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

The winning pair weighed 470g (16.5oz) and 320g and may be stuffed rather than cooked. Ng Fung Hong, one of Hong Kong’s bigger food suppliers and distributors, which paid HK$200,000 (£14,137) at a charity auction, said that it had not decided what it would do with them. One possibility was to have them stuffed and put them on public display. The money was donated to a women’s charity.

“There were bids and counter-bids, more than ten rounds, hence the high price,” a company employee told the South China Morning Post. The annual contest, held by a group of food suppliers, celebrates the role of crabs in local cuisine. During crab time, ancient Chinese poets would pen verses on the joys of sipping wine and eating crab under an autumn moon. The classic Chinese novel, A Dream of Red Mansions by Tsao Hsueh-Chin and Kao Ngo, even depicts an “unforgettable grand crab feast to amaze one’s taste buds”. This month, the Shanghai Daily declared: “It’s the right season to treat yourself to a good serving of luscious crabs. These tiny, tasty crustaceans mature between September and December.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,173-1321001,00.html