Hairy (crab): description, taste, cooking features

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Crabs are representatives of the decapod crustaceans. It is no coincidence that its name is associated with the number of limbs of these marine inhabitants. Crabs make up about 20% of all marine crustaceans caught, farmed and traded worldwide. In total, there are almost 7 thousand species of crabs. Among them is the hairy. The hairy crab, as its official name sounds, has characteristic features due to which it can be easily distinguished from other types of crustaceans. We will tell you more about this inhabitant of the sea element and how it can be cooked at home in our article.

Crab-hairy: photo and description

Crab quadrangular hairy, or hairy - a small but strong and mobile arthropod with a body covered with hairs. In addition to the hairline, on its shell there are sharp large and small spikes. The color of the carapace (shell) is from red-violet to brown. The size of the hairy varies from 40-50 to 110 mm in the width of the shell. Crabs that have reached a size of 70-80 mm are usually considered commercial individuals.

Hairy lives incoasts of the Korean Peninsula, Primorye, off the islands of Hokkaido, the Kuril Islands, off South Sakhalin and Kamchatka. Commercial accumulations of crab are observed at a depth of 30 to 80 meters.

For the people of Japan and Hokkaido, hair crab is an important source of income. Currently, the population of this animal is in a depressed state.

Taste of hairy crab

Volosatik differs not only in its unusual appearance. It is also one of the most expensive types of crab. It is valued not only for the most tender meat, but also for the very tasty and he althy liver located in the head. When parsing an arthropod, this offal can be identified by its characteristic light brown color.

Liver, like meat, is high in protein. It is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, sodium, iodine, etc. Crab meat is useful for various diseases. With it, you can quickly restore strength and achieve the desired recovery.

Hairy is a crab whose meat is much more tender than that of other species. Most often, arthropods are simply boiled in a saucepan, the edible part is separated from the inedible part, and served as such on a plate. However, the Japanese often bake volosatika in cheese or serve it in hogo, a Chinese dish for making dumplings that looks like a samovar.

Crab hair: how to cook at home

For the storage and transportation of freshly caught crab, the technology of boiled-frozen billets is used. This is what most often falls onshop shelves volosatik. Boiled-frozen crab is simply placed in boiling water for 5 minutes before cutting. After that, it is laid out on a plate, the legs are separated from the body and butchered.

The following method of crab processing is considered more correct. The legs immediately detach from the body. Next, the shell is tied crosswise with a regular thread. This is done so that its contents do not fall out. The fact is that the hairy shell opens slightly during cooking and a he althy liver can simply leak out of it. Ideally, you need to boil the crab in sea water. But since it is problematic to do this at home, they use ordinary water with s alt. The crab is boiled for 4 minutes in a wide pan. It is worth making sure that the water boils all the time. It is important not to overcook the crab, otherwise it will become tough. The boiled hair is laid out in a bowl with ice. This will make it easier to separate the meat from the shell later on.

Kitchen scissors or secateurs are used to cut crab. So it will be much more convenient to cut the claws and shell. Additionally, you may need spoons of different sizes, chopsticks for sushi, etc. First you need to remove the shell. In the part where the head of the crab is located, the largest amount of liver is concentrated. The removed shell can later be used as a plate, laying the liver and meat on it. By the way, there is also quite a lot of him in the torso.

After the shell is processed, you can proceed to the claws. To extract the meat from them, you need to cut the clawsalong. With a pruner, this will be very easy.

Crab meat salad with soy sauce

Most often, hairy crab is eaten cooked, for example, with beer. Less commonly, any dishes, salads are prepared from it.

Hairy is a crab that is widely used in Japanese cuisine. A delicious salad is prepared from his liver and meat. To do this, the ingredients laid out in the shell are seasoned with soy sauce and wasabi, mixed and served. You can also bake crab meat in the shell. To do this, it is simply sprinkled with grated cheese and sent to the oven for a few minutes until a crust forms.