As a Chinese saying goes: “The autumn winds start to blow, the crabs scuttle to and fro.” It’s September currently– the hairy crab season, and there’s no better time in the year to taste Suzhou’s famous Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs.
At present, the crabs are shedding their shells, a process called molting, for one last time and will reach maturity in around 2 weeks. After that, the yearly capturing of the hairy crabs will begin in Yangcheng Lake and the crabs will become available to be bought.
A hairy crab molts 23 to 25 times prior to it reaches maturity. It grows larger whenever after molting.
According to Wu Weiliang, deputy head of SIP Yangcheng Lake Hairy Crab Association, the hairy crabs are soft and would remain still for 15 minutes after they shed the old shells, which makes the crabs vulnerable to water birds. But molting hairy crabs are rarely seen under the water because they would conceal in the water plants to prevent detection.
The crab farmers specially installed oxygenation equipment to ensure the supply of oxygen, and put out corn, fish, and shrimps for the crabs in the mornings.
After the last molting procedure, the juvenile crabs develop and become stronger.
It will be a bumper year for crab farmers and the rate is prepared for to stay flat, Wu included.
As the crab farmers have begun to catch a percentage of crabs to check the quality, they currently had the first bite of hairy crabs in this fall. Clients also want to get a first taste of the delicacy, particularly its creamy roe, as early as in September during events for the Mid-Autumn Festival (Sept. 21).
Yangcheng Lake, with abundant water plants and sunlight, uses an excellent environment for hairy crabs to grow.
