Category Archives: Gastronomy

Shanghai Hairy Crab

05 Wednesday Oct 2011

Posted by in China, Gastronomy, Oversea Restaurants, Travel

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Wow.. It’s October already? October always reminds me of Hairy Crab. Now is the year again where you will see plentiful hairy crab being sold everywhere if you are in Shanghai.

Hairy Crab is better known as the “dai-chap-hai” within the Chinese community. If you check on wiki, they call it the Chinese mitten crab (due to it’s furry claw). Most people love the female crab because of the roe. There’s many way to prepare this delicacy. For me, the best is still simply steam them and eat them with some vinegarish ginger sauce.   

I miss these little buggers… It was just like yesterday that I was devouring them like crazy. But, looking back, it has been almost 2 years since my last trip to shanghai. Hmm.. maybe it’s time for another trip. But, I will only make a trip there during the end of Sept – beginning of Oct because of these babies… 

You can easily buy the pre-cooked crab in the market. The female cost about 10 yuan / crab and the male about 5 yuan / crab. Now, how do you tell if it’s a female / male? I recall that it is from the pattern on the tummy of the crab. the centre of the crab got a piece of shell. The bigger center is a female and smaller is male.. Or was it vice versa? hmm… don’t remember. Will need to double check on that again.

As for me, my cousin-in-law is from Shanghai. So, I was fortunate enough to be invited for some home-cooked style. hehehee… On top of the hairy crab, we had tons of other typical shanghai cuisine.  

Look at that !! piping hot. ohh… it was so delicious ! I had 2 dinner over at my cousin’s family place and both time, they serve us hairycrab. And was I sick of them? NOOOOoo… I just couldn’t get enough of them. hehehe.

On top of the home-cook ones, an old family friend who had settle down in Shanghai invited us to dinner in a really nice restaurant. Since it is the hairy crab season, Ms. A insisted we had them. Yay !!! who am I to complaint. She told me that in this restaurant, we can have the hairy crab that is caught from the actual origin place (Yangtze River) and it is suppose to be far more superior compared to the breed type. Because there is a limited quantity of these crabs from this river, each crab caught here are tagges and registered !! Most of these are exported to countries like Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and etc.

In order to enjoy the crab, Ms. A also ordered a 21 year old shao-xing wine (chinese wine). She told me that because the crab has a very cooling “yin” effect for the body. It is good to balance back with some wine. And she was right. The roe from the crab was so rich and taste amazing !! sipping the wine helps to bring out the natural sweetness of the crab meat too… ooooohhhhh, what an amazing meal it was.. yumm yumm…

O-How I miss you hairy crab…

NaNiWa – Noodles & Soups (Japanese Cuisine)

03 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in Gastronomy, Germany, Oversea Restaurants, Travel

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A good friend recommended this place to me during one of my trip to Dusseldorf, Germany. (Thanks Lyn !!) She told me that this restaurant serve really good Ramen and I was certainly craving for noodle and soup after days of pork, pork and more pork in Germany.

So, we took the train Oststraße and from there took a short walk to reach the restaurant.

We got there just in time for early lunch as Lyn say it is crazy during peak hours. Manage to reach there around 11:45am (and already there was a mini queue outside the restaurant). Fortunately, we manage to secure a table after 15mins of wait. Around 12:30pm, the crowd and queue got really crazy. phewww… !! Lucky we had Lyn to bring us around Dusseldorf.

I was really impressed to see many Japanese eating there. This is definitely a plus point when you are dining Japanese food. We ordered one Curry Rice, 2 Shio Ramen and another ramen which I forgot the name. And of course, how can you have Ramen without gyoza, right? (It’s like ordering steak without fries) So, we ordered 2 plates of those!!! 

 

Overall the meal was really satisfying and authentic (considering you are eating it somewhere in Europe and not inJapan). Not to mention, it was relatively not too expensive. The bill was less than EUR 40 for the 3 of us. If you order just the noodle soup – it is about EUR 8-10 (depending on what you order). If you were to order this in Japan, it would probably come up to the same price. It is definitely one of the few restaurants that I will visit whenever I drop byDusseldorf.

 

Naniwa Noodles & Soups
Oststraße 55
40211 Düsseldorf
T (0211) 16 17 99
F (0211) 36 77 407

Mon – Fri 11:30 – 22:30
Sat Sun & Holiday 11:30 – 22:30
Closed on Tuesday

Bak Kut Teh – Pao Xiang

30 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by in Gastronomy, Local Restaurants

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Bak Kut Teh (literally translated as Meat, Bone, Tea) – typical Hokkien dish, was actually created as sort of a fast food for miners back in the old days. It has all the ingredient for a good chinese meal. all in one kinda of concept. There’s the herbal soup which promotes good circulation, meat for protein, and rice for carb (strength). It was something that really took off as the miners found it filling, promotes health and quick to eat.  From there, BKT revolves until what it is today.

My dear friend Ms. L introduce me to my first Pao Xiang BKT in Glenmarie. Pao Xiang is actually a restaurant chain which serves BKT. After one experience, I was hooked. Comparing with the traditional Bak Kut Teh (Pork Rib Tea Herbal Soup), Pao Xiang (PX) serves everything on individual bowl. This sort of reminds me of the way I am usually served BKT in Singapore.

Apart from the individual serve, each of these little bowls have fire heating from below. Hence, keeping the soup hot at all times. This would really help to make the soup really appetizing and also avoid the consumer (us) knowing how much oil there is. Normally, when you have BKT, towards the end of the meal, you can see the fat coagulating. Sort of like a reminder that the meal I just had is super fattening and contributor to my ever increase weight. sighh… So, in PX’s case, you actually won’t notice the fat. Eating with ignorance. ;p

I love the ‘Sui-Kut’ (small bone) and also the ‘ka-geng’ (tendon).

After my first experience, I was so addicted that I went to PX (in Kota Damansara) for another 4 times in that week !! i know… I am crazzy. But, I learn that people from Klang actually have BKT EVERYDAY !!!! wahh….