Mad about crabs

To best enjoy a crab's flavor, Victor Hu, Nobel Court's master Chinese chef, advises diners to eat the legs and claws before opening the top shell.

"The gills of a crab can show if it is bred in clean water," said Hu, popping off one specimen's top shell. "You can whitewash the crab's abdomen on the outside, but you cannot change the color of the gills inside."

The experience of eating a crab is messy but delightful. There are different utensils to eat a crab: We used a claw cracker and a pick, which is a fancy digging tool to pull off the legs and claws, and pick out the meat and roe.

Chef Hu advises diners to first eat the legs and claws before opening the top shell, "because the roe in the body is so delicious that if it's eaten first, you would not have any taste for its legs and claws."

It is said that if you eat a crab correctly, all of the body shell and claws can be put back to form an almost intact crab shape after you devour all of the meat and roe.

The creme de la creme moment: savoring the steamed hairy crab's meat with abalone and roe buns. Feel the rich, slippery filling of creamy crab roe wash over your taste buds once you take a nibble.

After this delectable crab-feasting, we were served sweetened ginger tea with longan and red date, always a part of a hairy crab feast. In traditional Chinese medicine philosophy, crabs are very "cooling" foods, so one needs to consume some"warming" foods for balance in the body. That is why hairy crabs are also presented with dipping sauce of brown vinegar and shredded ginger.