It happened to be the episode in which I appeared, savouring exquisite dishes from a literati feast in Suzhou. As he was salivating over the images on screen, he snapped a picture and sent it to me, asking me what other extravagant dishes I tried, apart from the intricately cooked striped bass and steamed goose that were featured.
I replied that the documentary had not included the crab butter rice. This crab butter rice is not just any regular butter rice. It is a much more sublime version, a concoction of crab paste and crab roe mixed into rice. This unique choice of ingredients takes crab-eating to a transcendental level.
Autumn is when hairy crabs spawn and start filling with roe. It is the seasonal crab roe and paste that is specially extracted to make crab butter. This mixture is then simmered with huangjiu and seasoned with broth. The mix is then drizzled over a bowl of rice and mixed well, resulting in a bowl of fragrant, savoury goodness. Nothing comes close to this exquisite taste. The process for making crab butter involves extremely tedious, painstaking work, demanding close attention to the smallest of details.
Two years ago, an old Suzhou restaurant brought crab butter noodles back to its menu, selling the delicacy for RMB per bowl. Although this was ten times more expensive than the already lavish signature pork belly noodles, the rare dish was worth every penny. From the Ming and Qing dynasties until the Republican Era, crab butter remained the star dish for nobles and elites, available only to the upper classes who had private chefs at their beck and call.
Suzhou cuisine is closely related to its traditional entertainment scene. It was customary in ancient times to have singers and dancers accompany extravagant feasts. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, these restaurants provided scholar-officials with the perfect place for feasts, poetry, and wine. Whether they were at Qinhuai River or Shantang Street, they were simply trying to enjoy life with a glass of wine in hand, beautiful women by their side, and fine delicacies in their stomachs.
