sesamesauce: Shanghai hairy crab in Shanghai

The restaurant we intended to patronise for it's famous dong bo rou (braised pork stomach) was torn down, literally, to make space for taller, flashier buildings. This was the second old haunt of mine that was gone within the space of a year. Big k was disappointed as he had been looking forward to the creamy melt-in-your-mouth dong bo rou. We had no choice but to change "target" and decided to go for hairy crab instead.

We were led to our table right at the end of a huge brightly-lit dining hall with tall ceiling. Almost all the tables around us as we walked across the hall were occupied as this was a hugely popular restaurant. In typical big chinese restaurant fashion, the whole hall was filled with loud incessant chatter and cigarette smoke.

We sat down and began to order. To satisfy his craving, big k ordered a similar meat dish. The waitress asked whether we would like to have female or male hairy crab. We ordered one of each at 138 yuan each.

I have tried hairy crab in Singapore when i was younger but it was big k's first try. The appeal lies in it's creamy crab roe and not so much the meat. I am a huge fan of crab roe but big k is indifferent. His comments: "That's why i don't like to eat flower crab, need to do so much for so little meat" and "So hairy, how to eat?" Thanks to that, i got to enjoy more than my fair share and i have to admit, the crab roe was sweet, creamy and worth every bit of cholesterol.