Steaming · FFET10238
Steamed hairy crab (dazhaxie)
Live crabs are rinsed, tied and steamed, then eaten with a dip of black vinegar, sugar and minced ginger during the autumn crab season.
A small round white porcelain bowl holds orange-red steamed crabs with dried purple perilla leaves, pale ginger slices and minced ginger beside dark brown vinegar dip, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the bowl.
Cooking food with steam in a steamer.
Steamed hairy crab is live Chinese mitten crab, rinsed and tied, steamed whole and eaten with a dip of black vinegar, sugar and minced ginger, often with a cup of hot ginger tea. The crab is an autumn seasonal food of Jiangnan, with producing areas including Yangcheng Lake near Suzhou in Jiangsu. In August 2025, the Nantong municipal government promoted steamed crab as a Jiangsu seasonal dish tied to the autumn solar term. No dated record of steaming the crab was found.
What
Steamed hairy crab: live Chinese mitten crabs are rinsed, tied and steamed whole, then cracked open by hand while hot and eaten with a dip of black vinegar, sugar and minced ginger.1,3,5,6
When
Eaten in autumn, during lunar months 8–10, with females at their peak in month 9 and males in month 10; a 2012 report also notes this season. No date for steaming the crab was found.1,3
Where
Hairy crab is a seasonal food of Jiangnan, with producing areas including Yangcheng Lake near Suzhou in Jiangsu. Steamed crab is a Jiangsu autumn dish promoted in Nantong. A Hong Kong recipe uses crabs from Yangcheng Lake and Tai Lake, and another recipe is labeled Shanghainese. The dish's place of origin is not settled.1,2,4,5,6
How
The crabs are rinsed, tied with string and placed belly side up in a steamer over high heat. Timing varies by recipe: about 15 minutes for small to medium crabs and 20 minutes for large ones, or 15 minutes once steam appears. They are served hot with a dip of black vinegar, sugar and minced ginger, often with ginger tea.5,6
Why
Steaming shows respect for fresh food. In traditional Chinese medicine, crab is regarded as cooling; ginger tea accompanies it in a Hong Kong recipe to balance that quality.1,4,5
Impact and influence
Yangcheng Lake crab has drawn counterfeits: 2012 figures show about 3,000 metric tons harvested against more than 100,000 metric tons sold under its name. In August 2025, the Nantong government promoted local crab as an autumn seasonal food.2,3,4
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is how I steam hairy crab at home. The dip and ginger tea amounts follow a signed recipe. The other signed recipe is shorter and gives no amount of sugar for the dip, so I just compared the steaming time; both say about 15 minutes. I use live crabs and judge doneness myself: the shells are red all over and the meat and roe are cooked through, with nothing left translucent.
Ingredients
- Live hairy crabs 4 crabs
- Dried perilla leaves 2, optional
- Black vinegar 4 tablespoons, for the dip
- Minced ginger 2 tablespoons, for the dip
- Brown sugar 4 tablespoons, for the dip
- Ginger slices 4 slices, for the ginger tea
- Brown sugar about 50 g (the recipe says 1/4 cup), for the ginger tea
- Water about 600 ml (the recipe says 2 1/2 cups), for the ginger tea
Steps
- Chill the live crabs in the refrigerator for a short while to calm them, then scrub them clean and tie each one with cotton string.
- Bring the water in the steamer to a boil, lay the dried perilla leaves in the steamer basket if using them, and set the crabs in belly side up.
- Cover and steam over high heat. Count from the time steam appears: about 15 minutes for small to medium crabs and about 20 for large ones. I then check that the shells are red all over and the meat is cooked through, and steam a few minutes longer if not.
- While the crabs steam, make the ginger tea: bring 4 slices of ginger, about 50 g of brown sugar and about 600 ml of water to a boil, then simmer until the ginger flavor comes out and the sugar has melted (the time is my own call).
- Make the dip: stir 4 tablespoons of black vinegar, 2 tablespoons of minced ginger and 4 tablespoons of brown sugar together until the sugar dissolves.
- Take the crabs out, let them cool for a minute or two, cut the string and eat them hot with the dip, with a cup of hot ginger tea beside them.
Tips
- The Hong Kong recipe treats crab as cooling and serves ginger tea with it, so I do the same and serve a cup of hot ginger tea.
- I start the dip with a little less sugar and add more after tasting. Tie the string firmly so the legs do not come loose while the crab steams.
Allergens: shellfish