When it rains, it pours, so the saying goes. Days after my last crab feast, I was going to eat crabs again. Cholestrol cholestrol cholestrol, my mind repeated those words. A battle between Jekyll and Hyde ensued, but the other side won easily. My eyes glistened and my heart skipped a beat as I saw the sumptuous hairy crabs laid out before us.
We soon found out that not all hairy crabs were created equal. It is important to know the source of the crabs, and we were also amazed to see tags on the claws of the Yang Cheng Lake hairy crabs. (So that they’ll know each other by first name? Hi. I’m Hairy. Hi. I’m Sally. Cool, let’s hook up. And that’s how Hairy met Sally.) The tags are to ensure authenticity, and they also include an SMS number (China only, I think!) for verification purposes. Technology certainly reaches the deepest jungles…errr…lakes.
As hard as I tried to differentiate the hairy crabs from the Tai Lake vs Yang Cheng Lake, I couldn’t find much obvious difference between the two. Bald Eagle, on the other hand, noticed that the Yang Cheng Lake crustaceans had creamier roe while the flesh was also sweeter. Talking about the roe, I was amazed at how creamy the roe was. They say the hairy crab roe is like caviar from the east. Priced at RM78++ and RM88++ for TL and YCL hairy crabs respectively, it looks like caviar all over the world (regardless of the origination) has to be EXPENSIVE! What price happiness, eh?
To ensure that the roe is creamy, one must not overcook the crab. The simplest (and tastiest) preparation is to steam the crab for between 10 to 20 minutes (depending on the capability of the steamer). During this process, the crab turns a lovely golden orange.
And the taste? Every little mouthful of the velvety roe was a feeling of ecstacy (can one get high on roe??). There was also some white creamy substance that was extremely delicious. You guessed it. It was sperm.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
Gives a new meaning to the word blowjob (hairy blowjob?).
We were advised to dip the flesh of the crabs in ginger and vinegar sauce. This is to counteract the cooling effect from consuming the hairy crabs. Interesting, this “cooling” thing. We were also given ginger tea and a shaoxing wine/sour plum concoction that tasted strange. Imagine alcohol with a lot of salt added to it. Well, I suppose it was a worthy antidote (translated: sacrifice) to warm up my body.
I thought I couldn’t go on anymore. Trust me, it can be quite tiring to eat these little buggers. BUT when the 1.5kg Australian Lobster came in, my jaw dropped. The flesh was raw, and I knew I was going to eat it sashimi-style with wasabi. I’ve always loved lobster sashimi. Too bad it’s so expensive (RM298/kg), or I’d be eating it more regularly!
Those who didn’t eat it raw chose to dip it into the boiling broth containing vegetables, mushrooms and tofu. Very healthy and tasty stuff. So was the dish of the vegetables on the side. Healthy.
The flower crabs, although a little bit of an anticlimax after having eaten the hairy crabs, were absolutely delicious. The flesh was firm and sweet and it was easy to tell that these were really fresh.
The salted egg yolk squid were a lot tastier this time as compared to my first experience. This time, the saltiness wasn’t overwhelming and it was nice and crunchy. Perfect with beer!
What really got me excited was the noodles which were braised with the lobster head (smashed to bits, of course). The flavour was delicate, typical of all lobster meals. At RM25 for this dish, I thought it was good value.
Dessert was Le Meridien’s tiramisu cake. Light and fluffy. Good if you’ve just had a filling meal and you don’t want any heavy dessert!
Also check out Boolicious’ , Joe’s and Precious Pea’s thoughts.
King Crab
No. 103 – 107, Jalan SS25/2,
Taman Mewah Jaya,
Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 03-7808 2388
Note: Autumn (Oct & Nov) is the best time to savour hairy crabs. King Crab is currently having a promo (buy 5 free 1) on its hairy crabs.
Are you crabbed out or what? Detox! Detox! Crab Alert! mmm though the squid looks nice and what’s with the asam boi 🙂 No wonder you so tired la…
whats with everyone meeting harry? haha but i definitely didnt think about sally since the whole bunch were males..haha..
lazy to blog about the rest..getting there..
everyone blog about it!!! i wanna cry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looks so gorgeous, will definitely pt my habds on some hairy crabs soon before season off!
you sure eating well girl .. was salivating like mad while strolling your entry lol
Such an indulgence hor? I think I have switched off from steamboat craze to hairy crab craze now.
msiagirl: Can send over some herbs for detox ar? I suppose the asam boi is to sweeten the taste of the alcohol? Dunno ler….
Joe: Male crab impersonating a female? 😛 Don’t be lazy ler…faster faster…
jackson: don’t cry. Just do it. 😀
BBO: You gotta hurry coz the season’s ending soon.
imbi&itchy: hahaha. Gotta cut down soon. 🙂
precious sista: Gosh! That’s being really indulgent! 😛
what was the damagelah?
awww.. alot ppl blog about it!!
Wooo…2nd serving of hairy crab here after pea’s post 🙂
feel worse now since i see it for the 2nd time but still can’t eat them!!!
just too bad… just too bad that i am not allowed to have any seafood for da time being….. sad case, sad case! SAD CASE!!!!!! your post… omg, so DELICIOUS!!!!!!!
spermazoid? hmm…brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “u r what u eat”…gotta have some! haha! i also think the lobster head noodle is a good deal too…head or tail, it’s the gravy that matters…
unkaleong: i’ll call and whisper the amt into ur ear. ROFL.
yammylicious: hehehe. great minds think alike? 😛
tigerfish: awwwww. maybe you should make a trip to china, eh? 🙂
meiyen: poor girl! so when can you eat again?
nic: hahaha. yeah, the gravy matters. definitely.
Hmm, while I was having crap service at a Japanese restaurant, you were having the best crab service… 😛
fualao weh !!! tempting very tempting but have to jaga weight la… i bet most of you guys actually works out in a gym when you are not eating right ? lol
Oooh Mr.Hairy and Ms Sally look so delicious..Wow lobster sashimi look very tasty..i have it before at Unique Seafood (aka 23)
That is a feast. I have to come visit so that you can take me to all these places!
Oooo…you too!! Hairy crabs:p
haha…I like that note of Hairy meet Sally 😀
My alltime favourite movie-wor… When Hairy, I mean Harry Met Sally. Mmmmm…I can imagine watching my favourite movie indulging in hairy… I’ve always wanted to eat crabs at home, then I don’t have to worry about looking polite and decent and wallop every single strand of crab meat inside every single crevice!!
Eh, next time dun waste BEagle’s precious cargo. Go steam it and see if it tastes as good… Then you can have it for free on demand… LOLOLOL
Those whitish stuff was sperm!? I thought Frankie was just kidding about it! O.o
the hairy crab looks good..but dont think i cant take it though..allergy to crab roe 🙁
wah lau!! i am all crab-ed. Wanna go try it right now!
kenny mah: crap service in the jap resto? oh dear! What a pity! They used to be so good last time. 🙁
bernsy: gym? what’s that again? 😛
ekeng: I like lobster sashimi, but it’s a rather expensive sashimi, so can’t have it too often!
cynthia: you can come visit anytime, girl. 🙂
christy: hehe…we try to have fun while eating (and writing). 🙂
kat: EWWWWW!!
jason: hahaha. Either you’ve been duped, or I have. 🙂
sc: Wow, that’s an awful allergy to have! But just as well if you’re concerned about your health! hehe.
alex: all crabed, eh? there could be several meanings to that! hehe. Anyway, I hope you get your crab soon!
At RM78++ and RM88++ is kinda cheap for those hairy creatures. Had mine while i was in HK and it cost HKD320 each. And with the promo… it’s so cheap. So go people.. give it a try 🙂
wow… what a feast!!
Jason: no kidding, that why call caviar of the east, what other animal you can get that stuff to eat?
All Crabbed Out…I ate a whole lot of crab roe, now I ain’t got the money! so sings Alison “Monyet” WMW! Hahaha…
Waattttt??? Some people enjoy it sashimi style, ok?
My apologies to the following people. I think my comments moderation is a bit screwed. haha.
christine leng: it was definitely a feast I will never forget!!
frankie: thanks for the confirmation! The sperm was awesome! hehe.
wmw: Alison Monyet…ahahaha!
kat: you’re getting grosser and grosser.
Crabtastic! The scientific community still hasn’t decided it cholesterol from shellfish is actually had for you. Until then, eat up I say!
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Looks great
I personally feel that king crab’s standard has dropped drastically over the years. Gone is the crowd as well..