For a port city, Shanghai has let me down again and again with its seafood. Most of the fish markets I’ve seen around town are just pathetic – offering some sad looking shrimp and near-death fish. I had been really disappointed with the seafood offerings in this city until we joined Tom & Stella on a journey to the Tong Chuan Lu Seafood Market. From the French concession, the cab ride to the market in Northern Shanghai costs about $30RMB.
Tong Chuan Lu has an impressive array of live seafood; including octopus, conch, several varieties of clams, abalone, and of course – the famed Yangcheng Lake hairy crab. Luckily for us, its the last week of hairy crab season and the females are plump with roe. We stopped into a seafood stall to pick out some hairy-clawed friends.
Once you pick out your hairy crabs, the vendor will hold its legs and claws together and tie it up expertly. It’s best to bring some local friends because the “laowai tax” definitely applies at the seafood market. Seafood is sold by the jin (500g) and some things are a much better deal than others. Our clams only cost $12RMB a jin, but a whole fish can cost around $300RMB (~$44USD)!! Pretty crazy considering I used to buy whole fresh fish in NYC Chinatown for just $7USD. Be careful of shifty vendors – some have remote controls to their scales, and they will jack up the weight on you.
After we loaded up on fresh seafood, we went around the corner to a restaurant called Tian Shang Lai and negotiated on a price for them to cook our recent purchases. The total came to $160RMB (~$23USD) for five of us – including a dish of greens and several bottles of beer.
Salt & pepper mantis shrimp. The same as what I had in Hong Kong, except these suckers were much smaller and pretty difficult to peel. Still tasty though.
Dungeoness crab with salty duck egg yolk sauce. This dish was absolutely fantastic, definitely my favorite of the night. The crab came covered in a sauce made with crab roe and salty duck egg yolk – a combination of flavors that is super rich and full of umami. I’m becoming a big fan of salty duck egg yolk sauce.
The main course – hairy crabs! These guys were simply steamed and served with a dish of sweet, gingery vinegar.
Cracking open a hairy crab. You can tell the difference between male and female crabs by the shape of their undersides. The male has a triangle shaped flap, while the female has a smooth oval-shaped flap. To crack open a male, you pull back the triangle and pop the shell off. Rip out the air sacs and you are good to go.
Hairy crab sperm. Man. This stuff is really weird, I have to admit. Its got the consistency of a glue stick but is quite tasty. The orange stuff is money! Better than the best uni you have ever had.
Hairy crab roe. My favorite! The bright orange roe is flavorful and resembles the texture of a hard boiled egg yolk. Much easier to stomach than the the crab sperm.
An amazing end to the hairy crab season! Til next year!
Target Chinese has a great article on everything hairy crab.
Tong Chuan Lu Seafood Market
Tong Chuan Lu Haixian Shichang
Tong Chuan Lu at Caoyang Lu
Putuo, Shanghai
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Tian Shang Lai Restaurant
436 Lan Xi Lu at Tong Chuan Lu
+86 52667877
