As the autumn wind blows,  the chrysanthemum turns yellow. It's a sign for Chinese mitten crab's time. In ancient times, Eating hairy crabs in the fall is regarded as a high taste, accompanied with watching chrysanthemums and composing poems. Chinese mitten crab is also well-known as "big biding crab" or "Hairy crab". A lot of foreigners were mistaken by Shanghainese liars' saying" Hairy crab is  Shanghai's delicacy". That's totally bullshit. Once on a flight from Vancouver to Shanghai, an editor wrote that Elsewhere except Shanghai's hairy crab is the genuine one. His words pissed me off. I have to clarify this on behalf of Suzhou citizens. Fresh water hairy crab belongs to Suzhou. There are two kinds of Fresh water hairy crabs, one is Taihu Lake hairy crab, the other is Yangchen Lake hairy crab. Fresh water hairy crab's yolk and oil are very rich and tasty; therefore, they are welcome by lots of Chinese people. For most westerners, hairy crab' crust is hard and they don't know how to get started. A traditional way of cooking is steamed hairy crab. Old people say crab has a cooling effect on human body. Don't forget to  prepare minced ginger and spring onion sauce, which  is indispensable. For westerners, an experienced cook will take out the crab meat and roe and cook them with other ingredients. Here, I got three tips for those of you who doesn't know how to eat this dish.

1. Don't get started with the claws or legs. If you pull the claws and legs off first, the crab meat will come off with the claws and legs. First of all, you take out crab's belly. Female crab's belly is round while male crab's is pointed.
2. Secondly, you open the  carapace of the crab (casing of the crab)
3. Use leg's sharp part as a tool to pick out the crab meat.
4. Dip the crab meat or roe into the sauce.
5. After you are finished, wash your hands with tea water in order to remove the special odor and smell.
6. Don't drink tea, cold water or eat persimmons after taking crabs, or you will get stomachache.
7. There is an old saying:" September Female Crab, October Male Crab". September is the ninth month in the Chinese lunar calendar.

Nowadays it' hard to tell which is the genuine Yangchen lake hairy crab, which is not. But I can tell you if Yangchen Lake's the best, the lotus Island in Yangchen lake town, Xiangchen District is the best of the best. The genuine fresh water Yangchen Lake hairy crab's meat is a little bit sweat. Now the price for each hairy crab (200g) is 100 yuan. It's fair and inexpensive. If you are interested, take a tour to yangchen lake town. Enjoy this dish in the golden fall.