Crayfish-Paddy Steamed Rice 虾稻米饭
Crayfish-Paddy Steamed Rice is featured among the local specialties of Hubei.
Crayfish-Paddy Steamed Rice (虾稻米饭) is cooked rice made from crayfish-paddy rice (虾稻米), the grain that Qianjiang (潜江) in Hubei grows in fields where crayfish are raised alongside the rice plants. The Qianjiang city government lists the rice among the local products to buy.
The rice
The Qianjiang government describes the grain as green, ecologically grown rice from paddies where crayfish and rice grow together, with a glossy, translucent look, plump grains and a soft texture when cooked. The rice is sold in supermarkets and specialty food shops in the city.
Where it comes from
Crayfish-rice co-culture (虾稻共作) is the farming system behind the name. At the ten-thousand-mu co-culture base in Zhaonao village (赵脑村), Xiongkou town (熊口镇), the Hubei Daily reported that a field yields two crayfish harvests and one rice harvest each year. The paper put Qianjiang's co-culture area at 860,000 mu, and Peng Xuanguo (彭宣国) of the Hubei crayfish industry research institute described how local farming moved from rotating crayfish and rice to raising them together in the same field.
More dishes to compare
Explore related local specialties and compare their names, preparation notes and ordering guidance.
Qianjiang braised crayfish 潜江油焖小龙虾 →
The crayfish raised in the same Qianjiang co-culture paddies that produce this rice, cooked as a braised dish.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-25. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.