Hairy crab season is upon us once again, and you just know that Hong Kong’s chefs are making the most of this very limited window. Here is a selected interesting dishes around town for you to get your fix before they all scuttle away again for another year.

Seafood dumpling with caviar and hairy crab coral at Duddell’s

Seafood dumpling with caviar and hairy crab coral at Duddell's
The ever reliable Duddell’s is offering a more than serviceable seasonal menu, with dishes like braised sea cucumber stuffed with shrimp paste and hairy crab coral (HK$480 per person), steamed egg white with supreme bird’s nest and hairy crab coral (HK$420 per person), but our pick is the delicate seafood dumpling, which is lifted with a spinkle caviar and immersed on a yummy, pillowy bed of hairy crab coral (HK$260 per person). The coral, just FYI, refers to hairy crab roe – curd-like in females, while the male variant is more an “essence”.

Add: Duddell’s, 3/F-4/F, Shanghai Tang Mansion, 1 Duddell Street, Central, Hong Kong
COntact: 00852 2525 9191

Braised bean curd with hairy crab roe and pickled chilli at Yun Yan

Braised bean curd with hairy crab roe and pickled chilli at Yun Yan
Jiangsu-sourced hairy crab gets a Sichuan twist at Causeway Bay diner Yun Yan. While we’re easily tempted with plates like the surf and surf dish of seared king prawn with hairy crab roe (HK$128 per piece), and the return of the restaurant’s popular thick bean curd soup with hairy crab roe and soft poached egg (HK$58), we can’t look past the sweet and sour and spicy braised bean curd (HK$168) dish. Effectively a seasonal version of mapo tofu, the pickled chilli in here rounds things out, giving the dish a bit of edge.

Add: Yun Yan, 10/F, Times Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Contact: 00852 2375 0800

Fresh crab meat stir-fried with egg white and milk, topped with white truffles at Lai Bun Fu

Fresh crab meat stir-fried with egg white and milk, topped with white truffles at Lai Bun Fu
Because why not capitalise on all that’s in season, right? Lai Bun Fu has gone all out with its first hairy crab menu, illustrating chef Chung Kin Leung’s dedication to putting a spin on refined Cantonese fare by combining the Eastern delicacy with a European one in white truffles. Dishes like fried rice with conpoy, egg white and white truffles (HK$388) and hairy crab roe with deep-fried oysters (HK$268) are winners, but we just love how the two work together in the protein-rich stir fry (HK$438), a true east-meets-west combination that’s packed full of flavour.

Add: Lai Bun Fu, 5/F, 18 On Lan Street, Central, Hong Kong
Contact: 00852 2564 3868

Baked eggplant with cheese and hairy crab roe at Hoi King Heen

Baked eggplant with cheese and hairy crab roe at Hoi King Heen
The InterContinental Grand Stamford’s signature Cantonese restaurant is showcasing crabs from Taihu Lake this season, with a menu of both traditional and contemporary dishes. Taking his cue from the famed cheese rice dishes more commonly seen at a cha chaan teng, chef Leung Fai Hung is dishing up a wonderful sounding (and looking) creation of baked eggplant stuffed with cheese and hairy crab roe. This counts as one of your five a day, right?

Add: Hoi King Heen, B2/F, InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong, 70 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon
Contact: 00852 2731 2883

Baked mushroom and onion stuffed with hairy crab’s roe in hairy crab’s shell at Cuisine Cuisine

Baked mushroom and onion stuffed with hairy crab's roe in hairy crab's shell at Cuisine Cuisine
The Mira’s Cuisine Cuisine is always one of the hottest spots in town for seasonal specialties, and their new hairy crab menu is testament as to why. As well as selected à la carte dishes like steamed mince pork dumpling with hairy crab (HK$60 a piece) and steamed prawns with egg white and hairy crab’s roe served with natural peach tree resin (HK$380 for six pieces), This year chef Jayson Tang is also offering a six-course set crab menu paired with aged Chinese wines (HK$880) – the standout here is the baked mushroom and onion stuffed with hairy crab’s roe in hairy crab’s shell. Paired with a glass of Chen Nian Hua Diao 10 years old, this deviously moreish treat will see you going for every last bite.

Add: Cuisine Cuisine, 3/F, The Mira Hong Kong, 118-130 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Contact: 00852 2315 5222

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