The English person with a Chinese stomach': how Fuchsia Dunlop became a Sichuan food hero

"Every autumn in the mid-00s, when I lived in China, my friend Scarlett Li would invite me to Shanghai to eat hairy crab. Named for the spiky fur on their legs and claws, the crabs are said to have the best flavour during the ninth month of the lunar calendar. They're steamed and served whole, with a dip of rice vinegar spiked with ginger."

"Twelfth-century Hangzhou had specialised crab markets and dedicated crab restaurants. I have lusted after crabs all my life, wrote the 17th-century playwright Li Yu. From the first day of the crab season until the last day they are sold, I do not let a single evening pass without eating them . Dear crab, dear crab, you and I, are we to be lifelong companions?"

"In Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food, Fuchsia Dunlop traces the history of this remarkable cuisine through 30 dishes, from slow-braised pork belly to steamed rice. (There are 10 mentions of hairy crab not to be confused with crab that's roasted, baked, shredded, stuffed into soup dumplings or steamed buns, or marinated in liquor and served raw in a dish called drunken crab, which gets its own chapter.)"

Hairy crab is a seasonal delicacy best eaten during the ninth month of the lunar calendar, typically steamed and dipped in rice vinegar spiked with ginger. The most prized specimens come from Yangcheng Lake near Suzhou, long linked to regional prestige. Crabs from the Yangtze delta were harvested and sent as tribute beginning in the Tang dynasty, and twelfth-century Hangzhou developed specialised crab markets and restaurants. The eating of crabs inspired passionate writing, such as Li Yu's declaration of nightly consumption during the season. Hairy crab appears alongside many other crab preparations and exemplifies the ingenuity and centrality of cooking in Chinese culinary culture.

Read at www.theguardian.com