Fishing started on Saturday for hairy crabs on Yangtze River to compete
with those from famed Yangcheng Lake in Jiangsu Province and
elsewhere.To get more hairy crab, you can visit shine news official website.
People from Luojing Town in the northern district of Baoshan began
collecting the town's prized hairy crabs from ponds and rice fields.Crab
lovers will be able to taste the seasonal local crustaceans soon
without driving out of Shanghai. The meat is described as "sweeter and
tighter."
Hundreds local people jumped into seven ponds to gather the crabs in
the traditional way: with their hands and bamboo baskets. This year's
Luojing hairy crabs are bigger, about 100 grams heavier than those from
previous years, thanks to the favorable weather, a villager said.
Luojing crabs are known for their size, long legs, tighter meat and
rich roe as well as a slight naturally sweet flavor. They grow within
the city's tap water source conservation area at the mouth of Yangtze
River.
The crabs spawn there every October and villagers catch the biggest
baby crabs and raise them in ponds and rice fields. It takes two years,
twice as long as for other hairy crabs, for them to grow to full size
and head for the market. Yangtze River crabs are fed with fresh snails,
algae, corn, fish and beans.
The biggest male crab in the first batch weighed 455 grams,
comparing with 440 grams last year, while the "queen crab" weighed 350
grams.
Two Luojing-based companies purchased the crabs with 38,000 yuan
(US$5,400) and 36,000 yuan in an auction. The money was donated to the
town's charity foundation.
A crab wrapping competition was also held among villagers and
tourists to celebrate the Farmers' Harvest Festival on Saturday.
Villagers were asked to wrap each crab in the traditional way with straw
rope to prevent them from struggling while being steamed.
The crab bonanza is part of the town’s efforts to develop tourism to
attract gourmands from downtown . The town wants people to enjoy its
pastrol scenery, taste (and even catch) the hairy crabs themselves and
witness how much of the city’s agricultural products originate in the
town, said Yang Xin, director of Luojing.
The rice produced, together with crayfish, in the town was awarded
the gold prize at the 19th China Green Food Expo this year, while its
Yangtze River hairy crab has been awarded the gold prize in a nation
crab competition for seven consecutive years.
