Hello, hairy crab season: how to eat the Chinese seafood speciality, plus 8 Hong Kong restaurants getting creative with it, from Duddell’s to Rosewood Hong Kong’s The Legacy House – video

Nov 26 , 2020

Hong Kong’s restaurants get creative this hairy crab season. Photo: Duddell’s

Go the traditional route with hairy crab roe xiaolongbao at Alan Lo’s Michelin-starred Duddell’s, try the new tasting menu at chef Vicky Lau’s Tate Dining Room, or even do it the Italian way at Aria

It’s hairy crab season!

Also called the Chinese mitten crab, these petite crustaceans are known for their flavourful fatty meat and roe that’s often mixed together to create what’s called “cream” in Cantonese. (But we’ll refer to it as “roe”, for simplicity’s sake.)

As the season only lasts for about three months, fans of the delicacy indulge as much as they can while it lasts. Eating the crab whole admittedly takes some skill and patience, but plenty of Hong Kong restaurants readily enable diners to get straight to the meat of the matter with their special dishes and menus – sans shell.

Michelin-starred Duddell’s offers a six-course tasting menu, while other award-winning establishments such as Forum, Tate Dining Room, Écriture and Yè Shanghai have menus featuring new creations as well as classics, such as hairy crab xiaolongbao. New establishments such as Sexy Crab and the Rosewood Hong Kong’s The Legacy House are blazing the trail this season, too, with the latter offering traditional options served with fish maw and tofu.

Read on to discover the best of what Hong Kong’s dining scene has to offer this hairy crab season.

Duddell’s

Eight new hairy crab dishes await fans of the delicacy at Duddell’s, crafted by chef Li Man-lung. Apart from the popular xiaolongbao with hairy crab roe, there’s also scrambled eggs with hairy crab leg meat and conpoy, and crispy rice with hairy crab roe. Those who truly want to indulge should go for the six-course Hokkaido hairy crab tasting menu priced at HK$1,288 (US$166) with optional wine pairing for an additional HK$588 (US$75).

Level 3, Shanghai Tang Mansion, 1 Duddell Street, Central, 2525 9191

Sexy Crab