Mala Crayfish

Ingredients

Crayfish

• 2 kglive crayfish
• or frozen whole crayfish
• a stiff brush, for scrubbing
• clean water, for purging

The mala base

• 60 gdried red chillies
• 3 tablespoonsSichuan peppercorns
• 3 tablespoonsdoubanjiang
• fermented broad bean paste
• 8garlic cloves, sliced
• 5cm ginger, sliced
• 6spring onions, cut in lengths
• 3star anise
• 2bay leaves
• 1cinnamon stick
• 150 mloil

The braise

• 500 mlbeer
• 2 tablespoonslight soy sauce
• 1 tablespoondark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoonsugar
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• or to taste

To serve

• disposable gloves
• cold beer
• plenty of napkins

Directions

1. Keep them in clean water without food. Give them at least a few hours. Twist the middle tail fan and pull. It takes practice to do cleanly. Put the live crayfish in a large tub. Cover them with clean cold water. Give them at least three hours.
2. Rinse them under running water. This takes real time with two kilograms. Pull the vein out through the tail fan. Both are done depending on the cook. Cut the dried chillies in half. Shake out most of the loose seeds. Warm the Sichuan peppercorns in a dry pan. Give them about one full minute.
3. Heat the oil in a very large wok. Add the sliced ginger and garlic. Fry them for about a full minute. Add the dried chillies to the wok. Add the Sichuan peppercorns with them. Add the star anise, bay and cinnamon. Fry them for about thirty seconds. Add the doubanjiang to the wok. Fry it for about one full minute.
4. Add all the crayfish to the wok. Stir-fry them hard for about four minutes. Keep them all moving throughout. Pour in all of the beer at once. Add both soy sauces and the sugar.
5. Add the spring onions to the wok. Bring the wok up to a full boil. Cover it and lower the heat a little. Let it braise for about ten minutes. The shells also take on the flavour. Take the lid right off the wok. Give it about five more minutes.
6. Reduce it until it coats them. Judging when they are done takes a check. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt.
7. Add sugar if it tastes too sharp. Serving them is done hot in a large bowl. Tip the whole wok into a big bowl. Put plenty of napkins on the table. Twist the head away from the tail. Serve cold beer alongside them. It does not keep at all well after. Cook and eat them the same day.

Technique

• Procambarus clarkii is native to Louisiana and was introduced to China through Japan in the nineteen twenties or thirties; it spread rapidly, burrowing into banks and damaging rice paddy bunds, and is a genuinely invasive species there. Eating them turned a pest into an industry, and they are now farmed on a very large scale, often in rice-crayfish rotation.
• Mala means numbing and spicy: ma is the tingling numbness from Sichuan pepper, which is not a chilli but the husk of a citrus relative and acts on nerve receptors, and la is the heat from chilli. The two together are the flavour.
• Live crayfish must be purged in clean water without food for at least three hours with the water changed as it clouds, then scrubbed hard with a stiff brush including the underside and between the legs; muddy crayfish taste of mud and there is no shortcut. Pull the dark vein out through the middle tail fan.

Substitutions

• Frozen whole crayfish avoid both the purging and the question of killing them live.
• Doubanjiang, the fermented broad bean and chilli paste, is the foundation of the flavour and hard to replace.

Variations

• Some cooks snip off the head tip to remove grit and let the sauce inside.
• Some countries now regulate crustacean killing; chilling then rapid dispatch is the recommended method.
• Xuyi in Jiangsu and Wuhan in Hubei are the two centres of the summer craze.

History

Louisiana crayfish spread through Chinese waterways after a 1930s introduction; Xuyi and Wuhan turned them into a summer night-market craze in the 1990s.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mala Crayfish?

Mala Crayfish is a street food from China: crayfish stir-fried with chili, garlic and beer, eaten by the bucket with gloves. Louisiana crayfish spread through Chinese waterways after a 1930s introduction; Xuyi and Wuhan turned them into a summer night-market craze in the 1990s.

How long does Mala Crayfish take to make?

Mala Crayfish takes 1 hour plus purging of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Mala Crayfish?

Yes, within limits. Frozen whole crayfish avoid both the purging and the question of killing them live. Doubanjiang, the fermented broad bean and chilli paste, is the foundation of the flavour and hard to replace.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mala Crayfish?

Add sugar if it tastes too sharp. Serving them is done hot in a large bowl. Tip the whole wok into a big bowl. Put plenty of napkins on the table. Twist the head away from the tail. Serve cold beer alongside them. It does not keep at all well after. Cook and eat them the same day.