莱州呛蟹

Laizhou Choked Crabs

"菊花开,闻蟹来"。此刻,我又想到那顶盖儿肥的螃蟹和家家户户为备冬而忙活的情景。老家守着莱州湾,盛产有名的三疣梭子蟹,这蟹子因其甲壳中央有三道凸起而得名。掖县(今莱州)人有"生吃蟹子活吃虾"的传统,但虾蟹必须是活蹦乱跳的。这时节,甭管海蟹还是毛蟹,全都顶盖儿肥,加之天气渐冷,正是制作呛蟹子的最佳日子,所以家家户户都在不失时机地忙活。

People in Ye County(today's Laizhou)have a tradition of"eating raw crabs and shrimps"on the condition that the crabs and shrimps are alive.During this season,be it a sea crab or a hairy crab,they are all fat to the shell.Besides,it gets increasingly cold,constituting the best time to make choked crabs.Therefore,every household takes the chance to make them.Choking crabs was a way of eating invented by the older generation for antiseptic storage.Although circumstances change with the passage of time nowadays,people in the Ye County still have them as food of traditional flavor and make them in accordance with old methods.Nevertheless,allegedly,villagers do not use expensive swimming crabs but low-priced Hualihuer Crabs with stripes in their shells or hairy crabs.