Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant

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Sheraton Towers, 39 Scotts Road, Tel: 6839-5623 Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm (Mondays to Saturdays), 10.30am to 2.30pm (Sundays), 6.20 to 10.30pm (daily)

The great thing about eating hairy crabs at Li Bai is that you do not need to worry your head about quality. It’s always good.

Plus, if you are at a loss at how to tackle this funny-looking crab from the lakes near Shanghai, which is served whole, the waitress will peel it for you.

Each steamed crab costs $53 inclusive of a cup of hot ginger tea. The tea helps to warm up the body after eating the crab, which the Chinese consider a “cooling” food.

Li Bai’s chef has also come up with various ways of cooking the crab meat as well as the prized roe for those who prefer their crab to come sans shell.

These range from a sinfully rich braised shark’s fin with hairy crab meat and roe ($68 per serving) to fried hairy crab roe with milky gravy and wrapped with egg ($22 per serving).

Hairy crabs are seasonal and best eaten from mid-October to November. This year’s season at Li Bai starts tomorrow.