Zhejiang's Nightmare Delicacy: Autumn's First Fresh Feast in China

On August 1st, the East China Sea fishing ban was lifted, and thousands of fishing boats at Zhoushan Pier in Zhejiang set sail, bringing back baskets of seafood—along with Zhejiang people's "nightmare food."

Early in the month, they eat crabs bought by their moms at the market; mid-month, crabs their dads rushed to the pier to grab; late in the month, crabs gifted by friends. Breakfast features boiled crab, lunch stir-fried crab, dinner steamed crab. Monday: dry-roasted; Tuesday: scallion-ginger; Wednesday: steamed with eggs; Thursday: salt-baked; Friday: raw marinated; Saturday: home-style braised; Sunday: stir-fried with rice cakes... After the fishing season begins, Zhejiang people’s dilemma becomes: "Why are we eating crab again today?!"

To crab enthusiasts, autumn is incomplete without crab. In Zhejiang, China’s top producer of swimming crabs, autumn means an endless supply of them—so much so that locals jokingly call it "impoverished coastal folks barely scraping by on swimming crabs."

With China’s longest coastline and dense inland river networks, Zhejiang is a crab paradise. Swimming crabs from the sea are just one part of Zhejiang’s crab universe. Mangrove crabs from shallow waters are cooked by Taizhou locals into a deceptively simple home-style dish, rich and fragrant. Hairy crabs and lake crabs from rivers and fields are either marinated directly in huadiao wine for a sweet, boozy aroma or meticulously picked and stuffed into oranges as an elegant delicacy. Even humble sand crabs and fiddler crabs from mudflats are crushed into paste or lightly salted by inventive Zhejiang cooks.

The fishing season’s "humblebrag" is unintentional, but Zhejiang undeniably earns its title as China’s top crab-eating province.

Home-style braised, raw crab, oil-salt, dry-roasted, wine-marinated...

Just how skilled are Zhejiang people at cooking crab?

For most, steaming is the go-to method—simple, quick, and preserving the crab’s natural flavor. But Zhejiang folks find steaming too plain. Here, crab is eaten raw or cooked, fried, grilled, stir-fried, or stewed, with dazzling variety.

At the G20 Hangzhou Summit’s state banquet years ago, a dish called "Crab-Stuffed Orange" (crab meat steamed with orange pulp) was served. This wasn’t a recent innovation—it dates back to the Southern Song Dynasty, recorded in the culinary classic *Shanjia Qinggong*, proving Zhejiang’s crab mastery spans centuries.

The "home-style braise," a signature of Taizhou and Wenzhou, is legendary. Local mangrove crabs are a coastal favorite. True to its name, the method is simple: lard for fragrance, huadiao wine to remove gaminess, seared over high heat then simmered. The emulsified broth turns pale gold, while the crab releases waves of umami.

Ningbo, heart of Yong-style cuisine, loves soups. Winter brings crispy lard-and-taro porridge, but autumn calls for crab soup. Ningbo’s famed water-milled rice cakes also pair perfectly with hairy or swimming crabs, soaking up their rich flavors until the cakes outshine the crab.

Zhejiang does steam crab too—but with twists like steaming with eggs or fish. A standout is crab-steamed meat patties, where crab fat seeps into the meat, blending mountain and sea flavors.

If there’s one thing Zhejiang excels at, it’s marinated crab, with over a dozen methods.

Ningbo’s marinated crab comes in two styles: the refined "Eighteen Cuts," where crab is chopped into 18 pieces with sauce, ensuring each bite has roe—a test of knife skills and seasoning; and straightforward "Drunken Crab," whole-crab marinated in liquor and salt, highlighting pure crab essence.

In Wenzhou, swimming crab is called "jiangxie," and their "Jiangxie Sheng" is exceptional. Pre-freezing ensures the meat slides off like ice cream. The marinade, heavy on pepper and ginger, adds a spicy kick to the briny sweetness.

Even tiny fiddler crabs get marinated. In Shaoxing, huadiao wine elevates hairy crabs—raw versions are silky and juicy, while cooked ones boast deep, lingering aromas.

Ask a Zhejiang local their favorite crab, and answers will vary.

Northern coastal folks, blessed with Zhoushan’s fishing grounds, swear by swimming crab. Fresh and sweet, its flavor shifts monthly: August-September males are plump; September brings "maiden crabs" (unfertilized females), prized for tenderness; November onward, females brim with rich, mesmerizing roe.

Down south in Wenzhou and Taizhou, mangrove crab reigns. Though part of the swimming crab family, Zhejiang’s version—especially from Sanmen—is considered superior.

Sanmen’s crabs thrive thanks to geography: north of the Yangtze’s silt-heavy estuary, crabs carry earthy notes; further south, warmer waters yield looser meat. Sanmen’s middle ground delivers the sweetest, firmest crabs.

Meanwhile, unlike the Portunus trituberculatus that grows in shallow seas, the mud crab inhabits muddy and sandy beaches in the intertidal zone, offering different delicacies at various developmental stages throughout the year. As summarized by Zhejiang locals: "In January, eat double-shelled crabs; in February, enjoy clear-water crabs; in March, savor juvenile crabs; in April, try black juvenile crabs; in May, all green crabs are plump; in June, feast on 'June yellows'; in July and August, indulge in large crabs; and in November and December, relish roe crabs."

Among these stages, the most noteworthy is the double-shelled crab. At this stage, the mud crab has a newly formed tender inner shell while the old shell is about to molt but not yet shed, hence the name "double-shelled." Double-shelled crabs are thick with meat and rich in roe, truly a treasure among crabs. But even more premium is the butter crab, a female mud crab that, under specific weather and conditions, sees its roe decompose into golden oil, gradually permeating every part of its body until the entire crab is filled with "butter." Top-tier butter crabs are golden all over, with such rich roe that it oozes out, and even their legs are golden.

Stretching from Jinsiniang Bridge in Pinghu City in the north to Hutoubi in Cangnan County in the south, Zhejiang boasts a 2,200-kilometer mainland coastline, naturally home to more than just the two crab varieties mentioned above. On the coastal mudflats, there are also small-sized sand crabs and thick crabs. In their leisure time, locals catch them with wheel-shaped iron hooks. The fishermen simply salt the crabs for eating, while in high-end restaurants, chefs use fermentation techniques to prepare them, resulting in small crabs that are chewed shell and all, bursting with flavor. During peak seasons when there are too many to eat, local fishermen even feed the small crabs to poultry—a uniquely coastal "Versailles" lifestyle.

Besides sea crabs, Zhejiang's inland areas are crisscrossed with rivers. As early as the Qing Dynasty, people praised Taihu Lake crabs: "There are several types of crabs, but those from Taihu Lake are large and yellow." The hairy-footed crabs of southern Taihu Lake drink from the upstream waters of Yangcheng Lake and are fed by the lush aquatic plants and abundant fish and shrimp in the lake, making them robust specimens with yellow fur, golden claws, green backs, and white bellies. There are also the iron-shell weight crabs from Zhaixi in Tonglu, derived from wild crab seedlings in the Fuchun River. Crabs of the same size are 5% heavier than others, a testament to their firm meat.

Thanks to its exceptional aquatic advantages, Zhejiang offers a wide variety of crabs in large quantities and at low prices, giving locals lower trial-and-error costs and more room for innovation in crab cooking. Combined with the unique culinary techniques of Zhejiang cuisine, this ensures that Zhejiang's dining tables are always rich with the aroma of crabs.

"No autumn is complete without crabs." Now is the golden season for crab feasting in Zhejiang—why not head there and experience the freedom of crab indulgence?