Garlic Crayfish 蒜蓉小龙虾

Garlic Crayfish (蒜蓉小龙虾) is freshwater crayfish cooked under a coat of golden minced garlic. It is one of the standard crayfish dishes of Qianjiang (潜江), a well-known crayfish-producing city in Hubei, where it also goes by the name garlic big prawns (蒜蓉大虾).

How it is made

In Changjiang Daily's Wuhan crayfish guide, the garlic is chopped very fine and the golden mince clings to every crayfish, giving each mouthful layers of aroma. The same guide says Xiahuang (虾皇), a well-known restaurant from Qianjiang, uses single-clove garlic (独头蒜) for a stronger fragrance.

Qianjiang has been working to fix the recipe in writing. The city's 13th five-year plan called for local and company standards for dishes such as Qianjiang garlic crayfish, and in July 2026 a draft group standard, the cooking specification for Qianjiang garlic crayfish (T/QJCIPA 019—2026), was put out for public comment. It was drafted by Jianghan Art Vocational College (江汉艺术职业学院), the Qianjiang cooking and hotel trade association, crayfish restaurants including Xiahuang, and other bodies, and covers raw and auxiliary ingredients, the cooking process and the finished dish.

How it is eaten

People's Daily described red oil-braised crayfish (油焖小龙虾) and garlic crayfish arriving by the basin at a Qianjiang restaurant table. At the city's crayfish food week in May 2024, held at the Qianjiang Ecological Crayfish City (潜江生态龙虾城), garlic crayfish was among more than a hundred ways of cooking crayfish on offer. Crayfish used to go dormant after September, leaving local restaurants with only frozen crayfish; People's Daily reported in 2026 that winter farming now lets Qianjiang serve live crayfish through the cold months too.

In Wuhan, diners mix the garlic sauce left at the bottom of the bowl into noodles once the crayfish are finished.