Tuohu Lake Crab 沱湖螃蟹
Tuohu Lake Crab is featured among the local specialties of Anhui.
Tuohu Lake Crab (沱湖螃蟹) is the Chinese mitten crab raised in Tuohu Lake (沱湖), which lies 3.5 kilometres northwest of the county town of Wuhe (五河) in northern Anhui. Wuhe serves it plainly: steamed, with vinegar for dipping.
Where it comes from
Tuohu is a palm-shaped shallow lake lying in an old river depression, with a winding shore, about 80,000 mu (roughly 53 square kilometres) of open water, dense water plants and deep silt. It is a provincial nature reserve. The crab are raised from Yangtze-strain Chinese mitten crab (中华绒螯蟹) fry and feed on the lake's small fish, shrimp and river snails. The county fisheries station says they rely mainly on natural food in the lake rather than artificial feed, and that river snails are stocked every year to improve the water.
A local legend has Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋), the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, tasting crab here while admiring chrysanthemums and praising its flavour. Today the county's crab brands are managed together under the name Wuhe Crab (五河螃蟹), which was registered as a geographical-indication certification trademark in January 2016 and received an agricultural geographical-indication certificate from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 2020.
Flavour and texture
Wuhe describes a good Tuohu crab by its colours, a blue-green back, white belly, yellow hair and golden claws, and by a shell packed with roe and meat. The county credits the lake's water with giving the flesh a slightly sweet taste, and a 2023 county report attributes both the markings and the fresh, sweet flavour to the water plants, clear water and plentiful plankton.
How it is eaten
Tuohu crab is mostly steamed and dipped in vinegar. The county quotes the saying "九月圆脐十月尖" ("round navels in the ninth month, pointed in the tenth"): in the ninth lunar month the female, whose abdominal flap is round, is preferred for its full roe; in the tenth month the male, with a pointed flap, is preferred for its plump flesh and fragrant paste. At the lake the usual portion is two crabs a person, one female and one male, and crab is the showpiece dish that closes a banquet.
The lake's catching season opened on 12 October in 2021, when 21 boats set out to the net enclosures and cages of crab were carried ashore full of roe and yellow fat.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-23. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.