After the October holiday (really the mid-Autumn festival), China enters the crab season. If you are in the country, the hairy crab (大闸蟹) is a must have. (Do you visit San Francisco without going to the Fisherman's Wharf?)
Not just any hairy crab, the ones from Yang Cheng Lake (阳澄湖). They are so prized, each one now carries a seal of authenticity. Allegedly, the seals are temper-proof and installed when the crabs are harvested. Do remember, this is the country that you can buy anthentic DVDs for US$2 each.
Now, at least, you need to pretend to enjoy it like a pro.
Order them steamed, or “naked,” so that all flavors of the crab are fully presented without any enhancements. Order the Chinese rice wine, warm. It is common to add the preserved plum into the cup, but I drink them straight. All half-decent restaurants will serve the crabs with vinegar that are dark like soy-sauce.
The crab should be served whole. If you find yourself staring at it like having Artichoke the first time, don't despair. First, pick it up with your hand and examine the underside. If the “bottom” is round, it is a female crab, a pointy bottom means male. In the fall, insist on female ones. Obviously, you need to check all the limbs and the hair. The crab should look normal and healthy, with a good yellow-red color.
Ask the server to open the crab and clean it up for you. Others may do it themselves, but you should not bother with this trivial procedure. The crab should return to you with the back shell flipped and some creamy paste like stuff in juicy. That is the best part. Don't you get grossed out. Drip some vinegar, spoon them out, and taste the creamy, salty, and best of the seafood flavors. Yes, it is high in cholesterol, but who cares. (And it is your only legal way to get out of eating this part.) The rice wine goes very well with this stuff. It is so heavenly that Chinese wrote thousands of poems on this feast. Having crabs, under the full moon, drinking wines, appreciating the chrysanthemum blossoms, writing poems with friends. Lives do not get better than this.
Oh, the rest of the crab? Use the small dental instrument to get the morsels out. If the restaurant did not provide them, the pointy chopstick works too. Using hands are perfectly OK. Vinegar is optional and wine is a must. (Chinese believe that crabs are “cold” in their nature and wine will compensate and balance the coldness.)
If you are not in the country, I guess you will just have to settle for the Dungeness or lobsters.