How time flies! It is already time for crab maniacs to enjoy another feast of this shell-encased gift from the sea. Chinese people say that September is the best month for eating female crabs, as their roe is at its best at that time, and October is the time to eat their male counterparts, as their crab cream, or reproductive organs, is at its best. Every year around this time, as conversation turns to what seasonal dishes are hot in China's restaurants, crab comes up time and again.

Chinese cooks make the most out of crab, dazzling diners with various kinds of dishes that use almost every part of the crustacean, from the body to the pincers, from the meat to the gut. While it's very common to steam crab and serve it with vinegar, there are still thousands of popular ways to cook crabs. This week, we share with you a few special crab recipes from chefs from all over the country.

Mitten crab congee

From Qiu Kun, chef at the Hyatt Regency Qingdao, Shandong Province

If you already know how to cook congee, a godsend for overworked digestive systems, then this recipe will be a piece of cake. In short, congee is rice that has been cooked for so long and in so much water that it breaks apart when stirred.

Soak rice in water overnight. Drain and add fresh water, in a rice-to-water ratio of 1:5, and cook on medium flame. Once rice is soft enough to be stirred into a sort of puree, add a little salt and olive oil.

In the meantime, start preparing your crab meat. Cut the crab into pieces, dig out the crab cream and set aside, and collect the juice from the cutting board in a small bowl for later use.
"The blood of the crab is not scarlet. The nearly transparent liquid that flows when you cut the crab is not water, but rather blood," Qiu explained.

After the rice has cooked for about 30 minutes, add crab to the congee. Cook until it returns to a boil, then add the crab cream and the blood and allow to return to a boil. As a final touch, sprinkle some chopped green onion and ginger over the congee before serving.

Fried crab with egg white

From Liang Huixiong, Chinese administrative chef at InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong 

"In addition to steaming and poaching, we can also separate the crab meat out to make different dishes like fried crab with egg white, braised crab with pumpkin and pork, crispy crab spring rolls, and so many others," Liang said. He shared his method of making fried crab with egg white with the Global Times.  

The first step is to remove the crab meat from the shell and separate out the crab cream or roe. Heat some oil in a pan and cook a pinch of minced shallot and ginger, stirring rapidly. Add the crab meat and some milk or chicken broth, depending on your own taste. Add a pinch of salt and a little corn starch. Stir-fry all ingredients until they begin to brown.

In another pan, stir-fry the crab cream in hot oil with shallot and ginger until the oil of the crab cream disappears. Whisk several egg whites and add a bit of salt and monosodium glutamate. Cook whites in an unused pan over low heat until it solidifies and turns white.

Finally, fill the empty crab shell with the cooked crab meat and cover with the egg white. Add a dollop of the golden crab cream on top. Serve immediately.

Steamed crab with glutinous rice

From the Horizon Chinese Restaurant of the Kerry Hotel, Beijing

Like mitten crab with fried rice cake, steamed crab with glutinous rice is another dish which plays the role of both a dish and a staple food that is popular in China. The good thing is that by ordering one dish you can both enjoy good flavor and satisfy your hunger. No wonder it is quite frequently ordered in restaurants as well as cooked at home.

First, wash the glutinous rice and cook with water in a bamboo steamer. Then separate the crab meat from the shell and fry it quickly with some oil until it turns golden. Remove meat and drain the oil. Heat oil in a pan and stir-fry the yolk of a preserved egg (can be bought in most supermarkets in China), corn, dried small shrimp, chopped ham, beans and any other small-sized ingredients that you like. When the aroma of the cooking goodies becomes alluring, add some soy sauce, sugar, monosodium glutamate, sesame oil and ground pepper. Mix with the cooked glutinous rice until well blended and turn off the flame. Pile the fried crab neatly in the middle of a plate and cover with the mixed glutinous rice. Steam it in the food steamer for five minutes. Take out the plate and swiftly turn it over onto a bigger plate. Sprinkle with chopped celery before serving.

Be sure not to burn rice or else a burnt taste will permeate the whole dish. Tofu can be used in place of rice in summer for a fresher taste.