Shanghai Pathways

Hairy crabs, especially those from Yangcheng Lake, are popular in the Yangtze Delta region from the end of Aug until the end of winter. They are characterized by their small size, the females' roe, and their claws, which often are covered in hair.

It is an obsession for those who can afford to eat them. The female crabs ripen in the ninth lunar month, the males in the tenth, and from then until the end of the year they are almost inescapable.

Want to know what you’re eating in minute detail? That’s what our expert’s there for.

In Shanghai’s best restaurants, this signature dish is prepared with the utmost attention to detail. In fact the entire process from farm to plate can be considered something of an art. The hairy crab experience is your opportunity to try this traditional dish in one of Shanghai’s best hairy crabs restaurants.

Kindly note that eating hairy crabs is a wild and messy business. You must pull off the legs and claws, prise open the shells and scrape, pick, suck and crunch until you have extracted every last, delicious morsel. The pale, silken flesh of the crab legs is delectable enough, but their shells contain the real treasures: the golden, voluptuous semen of the males and the bright orange roe of the females, sprawled lazily atop a custardy mess of meat. Of course, for those who find eating whole crabs a hassle, we offer service to help you do it. We also offer dishes made with meat that has been painstakingly excavated from the shells.