KY eats – Shanghai Hairy Crab (大閘蟹) at Restaurant King Crab
It has been a gluttonously satisfying weekend, I had plenty of Kalbi at Kangsane on Saturday night, and this superb hairy crab dinner last night at Restaurant King Crab. I couldn’t possibly ask for more.
can you see the crab roe?
Hairy Crab, or Chinese Mitten Crab (大閘蟹), an invasive species that is wrecking up river ecosystem in Europe and North America, is revered in Chinese cuisine not unlike sharks fin and abelone. I guess one person’s pest is another person’s delicacy. The fatty roe and sweet crab meat is highly sought after. Yang Cheng Lake, about an hour away from Shanghai, is said to produce the best hairy crab.
The hairy crab season starts from around August until December where the crabs are packed with roe and supposedly most fatty and delicious. Since King Crab is having a 5+1 promotion on hairy crab, we ordered 6 crabs (3 male, 3 female), with steamed fish (海底鸡), pork ribs, and spinach to go with rice for dinner.
they only serve live seafood here
The only one way to prepare hairy crab is by steaming it as to preserve the natural sweetness and not overpowering the taste with any spices. Sweet vinegar and slices of ginger accompanies the dish. At the restaurant, a waiter is in charged of shelling our crabs and prepare them for consumption, nice.
The taste of the roe, coupled with some vinegar, was just amazing. It was very succulent and rich, carrying a taste factor not unlike having foie gras for the first time. The crab was not overly cooked and the meat retains the sweetness that is similar to fresh lobster tail. The roe of the female crab was great, but the meat of the bigger male crab doesn’t lack behind either. It was very good, the best crab I’ve had so far.
the hot chick is obviously enjoying her food
After the crab, we had rice with the other dishes that includes steamed fish, pork ribs, and spinach with soup. The quality of these dishes were pretty good too; but after those mouth watering crabs, everything else just doesn’t excite the taste bud as much.
other dishes include vegetable, fish, and some good old fashion pork
Price of hairy crab at Restaurant King Crab are at RM 38/58/88/118 each. Our crabs were priced at RM 58 each, 150 gram for female crab and 200 gram for male crab respectively. The entire dinner was a little over RM 400 for four. Certainly not cheap, but it is a taste that is to be experienced at least once in a life time. Alternatively, you can fly to Shanghai next season. 
Now where should I go this coming weekend?
King Crab restaurant is situated just opposite the Kelana Jaya LRT station
Address:
103-107, Jalan SS25/2,
Taman Mewah Jaya,
47301 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
GPS: 3.113488,101.603462
Tel: 03-7805 3282
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Looks yummy… hahah but wait till I got the money to indulge! =) hehehe… can’t wait!
this weekend you should go to the gym
Rachel,
Get a credit card.
Suanie,
Who should go to the gym?
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
someone is in denial….
You make me want to eat crabs! I think King Crab should pay you for Advertising! No?
MAHAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
SOMORE DARE SHOW MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
NEXT ROUND !!! COMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
cumming in the pants.
Josh,
They should give me some free crabs!
Terenceg,
One fine day we shall go there.
kimberlycun,
I don’t want to know. lol
sooo nice.. but I cant eat it.. alergy..
WOW..look at all the crab..I’m sure Superhero W is going to drool over this, but too bad they serve porky! He can’t eat porky!! :p
wah your cholesterol level going to shoot up a lot…
wahsai..
Must.. eat.. crabs..
Saliva is on ‘auto- flow’ at the moment.
I think you forgot to close a tab… your hot chick’s link is everywhere on the last two paragraph..
whoa, you really live to eat eh? haha. yer, i envy you lah. can get to splurge on such tasty food. i’ll be flying to shanghai this Dec though. i wonder if it’s cheaper there. hmmm..
Hahaha, the foie gras must hv had such an impact on u,lol.
Take it easy man….it’s not tough to guess whether u r really into food man…lol.
In the few short years I’ve known KY, I have yet to see him gain much (if any at all) weight.
Chalk it up to a good metabolism ?
Then again at the rate he’s chugging in all that good food of late, I wont be surprised that he’s been hiding a spare tyre somewhere. ;p
supergirlfriend,
aww.. to bad.
twosuperheroes,
er.. don’t order pork?
peggy,
don’t remind me.
wombak,
do it! in fact I went there again today with separate group of badminton friends
v0ices,
fixed, thanks!
fiona,
I think it should be cheaper there, but the season might be over then.
malineee,
foie gras.. slurps
foxtrotecho,
well, that’s why I play badminton and futsal every week.
WHY never ajak. Aisehman. NEXT ROUND!
Nicholas,
Next time next time.
wahh so tempting! the crab roe O_O this shop is just like behind my house and yet i never been there before.
ISHhhh… never ajak!!!
NEXT ROUND ON YOU!!!
Still lots of crab here in Shanghai. As cheap as RMB10 per crab to over RMB100, depending on size and pedigree. Interesting to see that the crab is served slightly undercooked. I’ve not seen it cooked this way in Shanghai. Does the roe taste okay? Not “sang”?
Looneytune,
I think it was cooked just nice, not really “sang” at all.
In that case,when I get another batch of Hairy Crab, I shall try undercooking it. Maybe can tell my Chinese friends to try it too.
Looneytune,
Crab sashimi won’t be that bad either. hehehe
Wow, crabs agn? seem most blogger like crabs very much….haha, dont tempt me!
Amei79,
it’s like, yummy!
do u really a food blogger? been there last yr and the food was not as it seems to be and the price is much more expensive than any good restaurant out there. btw, they serve some ‘expired’ fried calamari to us……good restaurant? doubt that
unknown,
I guess food is a very personal thing and some restaurants can be inconsistent too. I’ve only been there twice by the way.
大閘蟹 is suzhou dude not shanghai.
Myhorng,
Ohhh, that’s what they told me, did they lie!
you make me hungry!
Li Ann,
Best!
It looks to me that the hairy crab in the first picture wasn’t fully cooked yet!!!
Keith,
it was, and it was super yums!