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Hot Crab the Cool Crunch

eijing restaurateurs are adept at putting the seasonally fashionable on the dining table. This Winter's collection started with a holdover from last year, Shui Zhu Yu (fish pieces boiled in a bowl of hot chili oil), but the star attraction these days is most definitely Xiang La Xie, otherwise known as spicy crab. Restaurants all over town have put it on the menu, and plastered its availability outside in neon. Some have even reinvented themselves as dedicated crab eateries. The queues are out the door at the best ones, so book ahead or arrive early. If you don't mind doing a bit of gnawing to get at the meat, this is one of the tastiest dishes around.

There are variations on the basic theme, but the most important choice is likely to be between small freshwater crabs and larger, saltwater Blue Swimmers. The latter have chunkier and tastier flesh, but they are a bit harder to deal with; the freshwater creatures have fairly soft shells that present few problems. All come in a sauce whose degree of spiciness you'd do well to consider before you start out. Ask for Wei La De if you don't want to run through a gallon of cold beer and a box of tissues before the end.

The other choice is what to do when you've sucked the last crab dry. Some establishments offer the usual assortment of Jia Chang Cai (home-style dishes), while others fill the crab bowl with broth and turn it into a standard hotpot. Since this is essentially a Winter warmer, I'd recommend the latter option, especially as it's the only one at the best place in town (see below).