Q. What prompted this trip? This isn’t your average jaunt to the grocery.
A. I went with a group of chefs in 1986 that was sponsored by the Chinese government. We did a cultural exchange… . One of the reasons we were there was to help the Chinese chefs with breakfast. They were having trouble with breakfast for the American businessmen who were coming over. And it was on that trip we were treated to an amazing specialty, sweet water hairy crabs. So basically, we’re going for the crabs!
Q. I really do want to know about the hairy crabs, but can we back up to the breakfast trouble?
A. The Chinese chefs just didn’t have a clue how American breakfasts were prepared. For example, something that was getting lost in translation was the American businessmen would ask for fried eggs, and the chefs would put oil in a wok and heat it up and put in an egg, and … it created problems.
Q. So what exactly makes the crabs special?
A. They’re delicious and highly steamed. And also, they’re rare. They’re found predominantly in the Nanjing Province. And they’re only in harvest four weeks, during fall.
Q. If Indiana Jones was a chef this crab sounds like something he’d hunt for, no?
A. I agree. We will be doing other, non-culinary cultural things - visiting the Great Wall, going to see the Terracotta Warriors, and temples. I love the temples. But finding the crab is the biggest part of this adventure.
Q. Will anything surprise you on this trip?
A. Well, I think my mind’s gonna be blown over how things look. When I was in Beijing in the 1980s there were only 600 registered cars and Shanghai had no high rises. Now, it seems like there are more high rises there than in New York!
Q. What’s your favorite movie that reflects an element of Chinese culture?
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