When autumn is high and cool, it is the season of Jiangnan cinnamon crab fat. At this time, you will deeply appreciate the benefits of growing up by the Yangtze River.

Crab legs are hairy and do not tolerate autumn winds. As soon as the autumn wind sounded, the crabs in all the waters immediately got the order and hurried down the river towards the entrance to the sea. The high sky is flowing clouds, the chrysanthemum is yellow, the crab is fat, and the chela is floating, which is a pleasure in the world. One of the "Three Fresh Foods of the Yangtze River", the Golden Shield Hairy Crab is famous for its yellow many, heavy oil and huge body. This is a wild and wild river crab, which is definitely better than the hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake that wear rings today.

The appearance of the crab is very indecent, staring at a pair of cicadas, spitting foam all over the mouth, the figure-eight long legs are rampant, and the claws are often stretched high like pincers. Shen Kuo wrote in "Dream Creek Writings": "There are no crabs in Guanzhong. In Shaanxi, when I heard the people of Qinzhou, I received a dry crab, and the natives were terrified of its shape, thinking that it was a monster, and each person was sick and malaria, and they borrowed it to hang on the door, and they were often sick.

Not only do people not know, but also ghosts. "This is the Shaanxi people who are not ashamed of their eyes, do not eat crabs and live up to their stomachs, and mistakenly regard delicious stunners as a fierce god who drives away diseases and subdues demons. However, in my hometown, drinking and guessing boxing, often have to warm up with crab wine first, and everyone clapped their sleeves and high-fived: "A crab, eight legs, two big claws come over......" The wine has not yet entered the intestines, and the majestic momentum comes out.

To say that in the early years, there were so many crabs in the rivers and lakes, and as soon as the west wind blew, the crabs crawled everywhere. Especially on foggy mornings, those crabs crawled to the edge of the river, climbed into the rice fields, climbed under the fence, squeaked and sprayed white foam, and stepped on one without paying attention. I remember one time, I let the ducks spend the night on the river beach, because I was afraid of the scourge of wild animals, I lit the lantern all night and hung it above the duck shed. When it was about to dawn, the ducks quacked fiercely, and when I got up, I saw that a corner of the open space in the duck pen was densely crawled with crabs!

When I was a child, in the autumn the fields were plucked with mud beans, and the crab nets from other places came. The net is usually two, about ten meters long and more than half a meter wide, supporting two thick bamboo poles. A simple shed was built on the riverbank, illuminated by a horse lantern, and the lights on both sides of the bank were lit, all of which were crab nets. Under the starlight, the river flows quietly. The upper and lower lines of the net were pulled sharply, and the crab touched the net. Closed the net, oh, what two big crabs!

It was itchy to see, so we chose a flat beach nearby, dragged straw, rubbed a few thick straw ropes, tied a brick at one end, threw it in the center of the river, and gathered and pressed it under a boulder at the other end. Turn on your flashlight and keep your eyes open on the water until you see a series of thin bubbles emerging from the bottom of the river......

The straw rope moved, a crab climbed the straw rope up, just landed on the ground, and excitedly danced two big claws against the flashlight pillar, and at a moment's notice, the eight hairy legs climbed horizontally and quickly. Later, some people didn't know where to learn the trick, and used a half-burnt grass rope to stop the river, saying that it was strange, under the light, the crabs smelled the smell, and climbed over one after another, and put the straw rope away, and the crabs were caught.

When catching crabs, use your index finger and thumb to tightly clasp both sides of the crab's back shell, so that its claws cannot be used, and you cannot directly grasp the crab legs and claws, otherwise the crab will cut itself and escape. The back shell is black and green with bright light, and the navel is protruding, which must be thick and strong, while the back shell is yellow, which is undoubtedly a thin crab.

"September navel and October tip" means that female crabs are eaten in September and male crabs are eaten in October. On the dining table, the wine is drunk to a certain time, on the crab, if you only go to look at the private parts of the crab is naturally unsightly, in fact, just a glance to sweep, the male crab claw is big, the female crab claw is small, it will not be wrong. But even if you eat the wrong male and female, although the male crab has less yellow cream, it is thick in fat, and the chelicera is very full, and the crab is beautiful in the meat, so why focus on the umbilicus!

If you are really an enthusiastic host, and you must pick the best crab to the Venerable One, then teach you the tricks: first, the chest is raised, the more bulging the meat, and the second is to look at the connection between the crab cover and the bottom of the crab, the greater the distance, the fatter it is, because the cream is swollen inside. More than 10 years ago, my colleague Ma Jun and I were picked up by car to Fanchang Xingang, and ate a real wild river crab, one full of six or seven taels, the paste yellow is almost as big as an egg, and the chopsticks can't be poked!

Crabs are usually steamed and eaten, but the heat is not easy to master, the time is short, the paste yellow is not solidified, and after a long time, the crab meat becomes hard and the fragrance is sharply reduced. In fact, heat a small bowl of water, put in pepper, salt, ginger, rice wine, and then put in the bundled crab, cook for about 15 minutes on medium heat, the crab body turns red, and the fragrance overflows. Because the moisture is sufficient, the meat is tender, the paste is tightened, and the fragrance is rich. But once when I ate crabs, an old man in the seat passed on my experience, and smoked the live crabs with vinegar first, and then put them in a pot to steam, which had a unique taste.

Eat crab while it is hot, it will smell fishy when it is cold. Solve the eight legs first, then open the lid to taste the cream, then open the crab body and eat it horizontally according to the texture of the crab meat, and finally eat the chela. This keeps your mouth warm and not hot. The crab claws are firm and can be crushed with pliers to avoid tooth injury. It is common for people to chew the meat with the shell, and even the crab whiskers and the "crab monk", that is, the stomach pouch of the crab, are also chewed into the mouth.

Liang Shiqiu's "Yashe Talks about Eating" talks about eating crabs in Zhengyang Building, Beiping, each person is given a boxwood hammer, knocking and beating, thinking that it is a kind of refinement. Lu Wenfu, a gourmand who has passed away, once boasted through his characters, saying that Suzhou people eat crabs, and there are as many as 8864 tools.

In the early years, some people did eat crabs with "eight crabs", which were small silver objects, which were useful for hooking and knocking, and could not damage the crab shell. It is rumored that there is a master who eats all the meat, and his shell can still spell out a whole crab. However, the general crab-eating gluttony only relies on ten fingers and a pair of sharp teeth, and can also eat in turn to eat the inhibition and frustration: the leg eating is the overture, the food cover is gradually getting better, the ointment is the climax, and finally the eating chela, the song ends and the aftersound is curling, the crab eating is quite particular, after each meal, remove the hard membrane at the joint of the crab leg, and put it on the wall with a butterfly pattern.

Crabs are cold and easy to hurt the stomach, so drink sugar ginger tea after eating to relieve it. After eating crabs, the mouth has a fishy smell for a long time, you can chew tea leaves or gargle a few sips of tea, and your hands can also be wiped with coriander leaves or washed with tea water. In "Dream of Red Mansions", Lin Daiyu praised: The chelated tender jade is double-full, and the shell is convex and red fat is fragrant. Jia Baoyu said: Holding the chela prefers the shade of Gui, and pouring vinegar makes Jiang Xing crazy.

Sister Feng even ordered the little girls to take the mung bean noodles smoked from the chrysanthemum leaves and osmanthus stamens, and prepared to wash their hands after eating. That's the beginning and the end. But a few days ago, I ate crabs in Nanning, Guangxi, and after the banquet, I asked the service lady with both hands to wash the coriander, but the other party shook his head and didn't know why.

Although the crab has great morality, it has always been inseparable from the fact that it has been derogatory. In the Song Dynasty, there was a meritorious man Zhao, who was greedy for ink. One day, the Emperor of God gave a banquet and instructed the official to come from the side of the surname Yun; one person entered with a live crab, and the "side" official saw it and exclaimed: "What a long hand and foot, I want to cook you, and read you as the same surname, and release you...... This sketch written and directed by the emperor is really wonderful, and the chief who has long hands and feet knows it, so he should be frightened.