Looking for the best restaurants for hairy crab in Shanghai? Here are a few recommendations to get cracking this autumn (and beyond).
What Is Hairy Crab?
Hairy crab is seasonal delicacy in China prized for its rich and creamy roe. Also known as the Chinese mitten crab (大闸蟹), these small river crustacean peak in season during the autumn months; around the 9th lunar month for female crabs, 10th for male crabs (October-early December). Crabs are bred all over these days, but the most prized are from Yangcheng Lake.
Crabs are usually prepared and served similarly at most restaurants. The crab is bound and steamed, served with a dipping sauce typically made with vinegar, ginger, and sugar. The crab is often paired with Shaoxing wine, Chinese yellow rice wine that has been likened to vin jaune, that tastes sweet, and depending on the age, has a hint of vinegariness and a light floral palate.
Cracking the crab requires some finesse. This is perhaps the most efficient method:
First, twist off the appendages and set aside to tackle later. Then, remove the bottom flap. Lift off the top shell and scoop out the bright orange roe. Some remove the heart too, which is the hard-ish orange-red bit in the center of the body, buried within the unctuous roe. Remove the gills, the white furry filaments on both sides. Then, split the body down the middle, slurp up the roe, and pick out the meat from the cavity.
Hairy Crab in Shanghai
Here’s a short list of a few popular restaurants for hairy crab, obviously incomplete, but a good starting point. Do you have a favorite? Leave a comment!
Kong Yi Ji 孔乙己
Kong Yi Ji (孔乙己) is a traditional Chinese restaurant serving up Shaoxing cuisine. It’s been around since 1999, and is known for their Shaoxing specialties, crab dishes (all year round), and a good source of hairy crabs come the season. They also have a Shaoxing wine pairing for ¥50, five cups of varying aged yellow wine to go with your meal.
They have plenty of crab and crab roe topped dishes, too, including ones with tofu, shrimp, and veg.
Click here to read more about Kong Yi Ji.
View the Huangpu listing here.
View the Changning listing here.
Cejerdary 蟹家大院
If you want to skip the faff that comes with picking out meat from whole crabs, head to Cejerdary, a specialty restaurant for hairy crab in Shanghai, famous for their hairy crab noodles.
The brand was established in 2010. They have multiple locations, but most popular location is at The Bund. Cejerdary has been the gold standard and the most iconic brand for many seeking crab noodles. Like some high-volume crab restaurants, Cejerdary runs their own crab farms and processing plants by Yangcheng Lake to retain their quality and pricing.
Each bowl of their signature Crab Gold Birthday Noodles (蟹黄金蟹面, ¥360) contains about 12 crabs, meat painstakingly picked for your dining pleasure, as well as the roe from both male and female crabs. It is pricey, but damn is it worth it. There is also the crab meat-only version for ¥72, and serve hairy crabs whole, marinated “drunken style” with Maotai (¥300/piece) and Wuliangye baijiu (¥100/piece). There’s also a rice version with black truffle for ¥280.
View Cejerdary (The Bund) listing here.
Wang Bao He 王宝和酒家
Wang Bao He is a specialty restaurant for hairy crab in Shanghai, located near the Bund. It’s also a time-honored brand, established in 1744! It was perhaps the earliest restaurant in Shanghai to serve the combination of hairy crab and Shaoxing wine. And they do make their own huangjiu.
They popularized the “蟹宴” or crab feast/banquet, where every dish has crab in it. I want to say 90% of their dishes have crab, including xiaolongbao, dumplings, savory mooncakes, tofu, Lion’s Head Meatball, soups, noodles, using the roe as a coating for fried dishes, etc.
View the Wang Bao He listing here.
Cheng Long Hang 成隆行
Established in 2002, Cheng Long Hang is a household name when it comes to hairy crab. Their original Jiujiang Lu location in Huangpu holds a Michelin one-star. They too also have their own crab farm, and like Wang Bao He, their menu is a true crab feast. Crab dishes include mapo tofu, rice dishes, drunken crab, xiaolongbao, mooncakes, spring rolls, and crab meat cooked in a whole orange.
One perk is that they do help to partially break apart your whole crab, a service where they crack the crab, scoop out the roe, cut the body, and snip the crab legs open.
View the Jiujiang Lu listing here.
View the Fenyang Lu listing here.
From The Source: Yangcheng Lake
You can order live crabs direct from the source, harvested from Yangcheng Lake. There are plenty selling direct via WeChat mini-programs, delivering live crabs direct to your door. One of them is 阳澄湖牌大闸蟹, where the entry level combo pack (as of 2024) is ¥708 for four male and four female crabs. They come in sleek gift boxes, in case you’re planning on gifting them, too. Again, that’s just one of many businesses shipping crabs nationally.
Looking for alternatives? Type “大闸蟹” into your WeChat search bar and sort by mini-programs.
