Besides mooncakes, the plump and large crab is also an essential feast on the dining table during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Wang Xufeng, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Nutrition Alliance, explains that while crabs are highly nutritious, excessive daily intake is detrimental to health. The World Health Organization recommends that the daily cholesterol intake should be below 300 milligrams. The crab meat of a single crab accounts for about 40% of its total weight. A 250-gram crab contains 100 grams of crab meat, and the cholesterol content in every 100 grams of crab meat is generally 235 milligrams, while crab roe is about 460 milligrams. From this, it is clear that eating one medium-sized crab per day already reaches or exceeds the recommended daily cholesterol intake, and eating more is not beneficial.
So, what goes well with crab? The traditional custom is to pair it with ginger, which not only enhances the flavor and removes the fishy smell but also uses the warming nature of ginger to counteract the coolness of the crab. Many people like to drink alcohol with crab, but it's best to avoid beer. Firstly, beer is itself considered cooling, and secondly, it can easily trigger gout. The traditional Chinese practice of pairing crab with yellow wine is very sensible, as yellow wine is warming and suitable for pairing with cooling foods. Additionally, vegetables such as cucumber, tomato, lotus root, eggplant, bitter melon, lettuce, and winter melon are all cooling. Fruits like muskmelon, watermelon, Hami melon, kiwi, banana, pear, strawberry, mandarin, apple, and loquat are also cooling. Pairing these foods with crab adds more coolness, and many people's gastrointestinal systems cannot tolerate it.
The following groups should be cautious when eating crab: People with a history of crab allergies or who suffer from urticaria, allergic asthma, or allergic dermatitis should, especially children, the elderly, and pregnant people with a constitution prone to allergies, best avoid eating crab. Patients with cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, hepatitis, acute or chronic pancreatitis, and severe cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases should try to eat less or no crab at all, and certainly not indulge in happy drinking with crab. People with diarrhea, stomach pain, colds, fever, or a naturally weak and cold spleen and stomach should not eat crab, as crab is difficult to digest and absorb, which will worsen spleen and stomach discomfort. If they do eat it, it is best to dip it in a mixture of ginger and vinegar to dispel its cold nature. Pregnant women with a cold and weak constitution are not suitable for eating crab. Infants and young children should not eat crab because the high protein can burden the liver and kidneys. Furthermore, crab roe is high in cholesterol, so people with coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, or hyperlipidemia should eat less or no crab roe, otherwise, it will worsen their condition.