'Crab King' and 'Crab Queen' crowned at Shanghai competition
A 580.5-gram male crab and a 476-gram female crab, both from Nanjing, Jiangsu province, were crowned as the "Crab King" and "Crab Queen" on Tuesday during the 18th Crab Culture Festival and the 2024 Wang Bao He Cup National Giant Crab Competition.
Co-hosted by Shanghai Ocean University and Central Hotel Shanghai, the event attracted over 130 units from cities and provinces, including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Shandong, Sichuan, and Guizhou, submitting more than 3,000 hairy crabs - also known as the Chinese mitten crab - to compete in the annual event.
According to Wang Hao, the executive chef of Central Hotel Shanghai, weight is the sole criterion for selecting the "Crab King" and "Crab Queen".
"Hosting this event annually also serves the purpose of preserving the rich crab dining culture," said Wang, who is also the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage in Shanghai.
In addition to crowning the "Crab King" and "Crab Queen" on the spot, other crab awards were also presented, including prizes for the best cultivation and the best taste.
Professor Chen Shunsheng from Shanghai Ocean University explained that observing, smelling, and tasting are crucial steps in evaluating crabs.
"A glossy and reddish crab shell indicates a high hemoglobin content. The thickness of the crab's body helps determine its fatness. When opened, one should observe the color of the crab paste and the fullness of the crab meat. The cleanliness of the crab's body can also indicate the quality of the water in which the crab grew," Chen said.
According to Wang Chenghui, a professor at Shanghai Ocean University and the chief expert of the Shanghai hairy crab industry technology system, the primary hairy crab-producing regions have experienced weather-related disruptions this year, resulting in a roughly two-week delay in the crabs' maturation compared to previous years.
Moreover, the breeding ponds have suffered environmental degradation due to high temperatures, causing a decline in production and smaller sizes for hairy crabs this year.
Therefore, the prices of hairy crabs this year have remained at relatively high levels, with an average price increase of around 20 to 30 percent compared to last year, according to Wang.
Despite hairy crab production being impacted in some regions, a newly established production base in Guizhou province has doubled its output.
"Last year, we introduced crab seedlings from Yangcheng Lake, cultivating over 100 mu (6.67 hectares) of rice-field crabs. This year, we have doubled the production area. We intend to continue expanding next year," said Chen Fuqing from Guizhou province. He brought locally bred rice-field crabs to the competition.
Chen said that the soil in Guizhou province is highly conducive to breeding hairy crabs, leading to a high survival rate attributed to the excellent water quality.
Li Junfeng contributed to this story.
