The majority of the dishes on his hairy crab menu are creative spins of Chinese classics. For example, the crispy taro dumplings stuffed with hairy crab meat and roe is an elevated version of the Cantonese snack that replaces the minced pork filling with hairy crab meat and roe to complement the natural sweet flavor of taro.
Miangeda, or dough balls, are a popular comfort food around the country. Lu has created a braised sea cucumber and hairy crab meat that's full of umami flavor and can instantly warm up the body on colder days.
Hairy crab and bean curd stew is a very classic dish of the season one can find in most restaurants that serve the crab.
Lu has decided to make a dim sum based on this dish — a shaomai (steamed dumpling) with hairy crab meat and minced bean curd filling.
"The small shaomai embraces the flavors and styles of both northern and southern cooking. The open-ended top of the dumpling blossoms like a flower bud, which is a technique more common in the north, while the inside is true southern flavor," explained Lu.
But perhaps the most innovative dish on Lu's menu is the soufflé, an iconic dish that returns every season. Light egg white, meat and roe are wrapped inside buttery French pastry.
"In chocolate soufflé, the texture of the chocolate is quite similar to the hairy crab meat and roe, which is very rich and aromatic, so I combined the very jiangnan-style hairy crab with the Western dessert soufflé," said Lu.
Lu specializes in incorporating his own ideas inspired by modern gastronomy. The chilled crab meat jelly with champagne and caviar is a fusion appetizer that brings together the intense flavors of the hairy crab, sea urchin, caviar and fig vinegar pearls, so is the avocado tartare with drunken meat and buckwheat chips.
Although most hairy crab dishes are traditional recipes like tofu with hairy crab meat and roe, some restaurants in Shanghai are expanding their repertoire to incorporate the seasonal ingredient in more creative dishes.
• Creative Crab Flavor 蟹榭
As the name suggests, this restaurant specializes in unique and innovative crab dishes you probably won't find elsewhere else.
One of their top items on the menu is spicy stew of hairy crab meat and roe with wild peach gum, which is a gelatin-like ingredient with many health benefits. The dish is similar to manao jinsi or manao yinsi in concept, but brings a more interesting texture.
Their baked conch stuffed with hairy crab meat and roe combines the flavors of the sea and lake, and the traditional Shanghainese noodle mixed with scallion oil is also served with a hairy crab meat and roe topping.
Average price: 200 yuan (US$30) per person
Address: 4/F, 68 Yuyuan Rd
• Wang Bao He Restaurant
王宝和酒家
Known for their hairy crab cuisine, Wang Bao He Restaurant serves both traditional and creative crab dishes.
While hairy crab xiaolongbao is a more common dim sum of the season, Wang Bao He also has a savory rice dumpling stuffed with minced pork and hairy crab meat and roe.
Average price: 260 yuan per person
Address: 603 Fuzhou Rd
• Bar Constellation 酒池星座
A Western-style bar seems to be an unlikely place to sample hairy crab, but the newly opened Bar Constellation has brought an ultimate rice dish featuring two favorite crustaceans — crayfish and hairy crab.
The 198-yuan creation mixes hairy crab meat and roe and crayfish with steamed rice, which is served in a stone pot. The dish is very heavy and rich.
Average price: 200 yuan per person
Address: 1/F, Taikoo Hui, 288 Shimen Rd No.1
It takes at least 10 steps to thoroughly extract the meat and roe from the small crabs that weigh no more than 200 grams. Gao Xiaosheng, executive Chinese chef at the Pudong Shangri-La, East Shanghai, demostrates:
1. Remove the legs and claws from the body.
2. Open the top shell of the body.
3. Remove the inedible parts of the hairy crab delicately — its lungs, intestines and especially the heart which is located near the bottom of the crab under a thin membrane.
4. Scrape off the roe left in the shell.
5. Scrape off the roe in the body.
6. Cut off the coxa to break apart the crab's body, then scrape off all the meat.
7. Break down the crab leg by cutting in the carpus.
8. Carefully pick out all the meat from the thickest portion of the leg.
9. Cut through the hard claws to reveal the meat.
10. Scrape the meat out of the claws.
