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‘Crayfish Street’ now even tastier after makeover
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IN south Hangzhou, the small restaurants lining Wangjiang Road may not have much to recommend them during the day. But once the street lamps are strung up, things change dramatically.
Warm lights coupled with the smell of cooked crayfish lure diners toward vendors calling passersby while waving menus in their hands. Nearby, lines of workers clean crayfish.
The section of Wangjiang Road, between Zhonghe Road S. and Jinchaidai Lane, is only about 100 meters long, but it’s home to 11 crayfish restaurants.
Selling the same food does lead to tough competition, but also results in prosperity here, especially in crayfish season when the harvest of the fiery-red crustacea with two scary pincers, is rich.
Business is so well now, that long lines still form, despite the number of restaurants with basically the same menus.
Chinese love their crayfish, or xiaolongxia.
They like the delicate, sweet meat hidden inside and have invented lots of recipes to maximize the delicate flavors of nature’s bounty.
Spicy dishes are common — sometimes fried with abundant seasonings. Some cooks simply boil and ice the food and then serve it with wasabi.
These 11 restaurants present a wide range of recipes.
“Crayfish street” has been here for more than a dozen years.
“I come here like twice a month during summer,” said local woman Wang Qi. “Before my parents took me here, now I take my child here.”
It all started with a small stall at No. 227 run by a family surnamed Wang.
Soon, many others moved into the area, cashing in on the popularity of this venerable snack institution.
But what accompanied the road’s brisk business were squatter houses and massy electric wires, so last year the local government undertook a facelift of crayfish street.
This spring, the street reopened with neat and tidy facades.
Gone are the rickety stools and aged, oil-stained menus, replaced by better tables and chairs, more lighting and finer tableware.
This year, the price of a medium-sized crayfish is about 120-170 yuan (US$17-25).
Shanghai Daily visits three that receive long lines almost every day.
Zuiniu Crayfish
(最牛小龙虾)
Located at No. 227, it was the original and the first. It serves up crayfish in the traditional Hangzhou way — that is, stir-fried and then boiled.
Customers can choose from three degrees of spiciness — mild, medium and extra hot.
“I don’t have any secret recipe, just ordinary seasoning,” says chef Zhou Hongwei, adding scallions, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, sugar and pepper. Cucumber is also used to absorb grease.
“Many of the restaurants use dark brown crayfish which have thick shells, but we choose the thin-shell breed which has more tender, sweet meat,” says Wang Xiaojing, the daughter of the owner.
The restaurant did not have a name before but lately named itself “Zuiniu” — meaning “awesome.”
And it sells more than 150 kilograms of crayfish most days, and sometimes the owner has to persuade customers go to other stalls when the line is too long.
A Gen Crayfish
(阿根小龙虾)
It is at No. 201. Last year it spent more than 500,000 yuan on redecoration. Now it features bright-red steel chairs and an open BBQ station.
“Young people place more value on a restaurant’s environment,” says owner Ma Fang. She and her cousin took charge of the restaurant from her mother and uncle.
The restaurant provides typical spicy and non-spicy crayfish fried and then boiled.
And it also recommends its jiaoyan flavor — deep fried crayfish coated with salt and pepper.
It is salty and spicy, and therefore goes quite well with beer. And it is a good option for those who don’t like crayfish in broth.
Long Men Xia Ke
(龙门虾客)
At No. 152, its specialty is Chinese-herb-cooked crayfish. The sauce is salty, a bit spicy, and a bit sour. The taste created by the owner is unusual, but very popular among those queuing.
Diners say they like the finger-licking sauce very much, and owner Ming Yue says the recipe is actually based on a lobster sauce that she once tried in America. By memory, she reproduced the taste and added Chinese herbs like hawthorn and lily flower to complete the flavor.
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