Super Star Seafood Restaurant 鴻星海鮮酒家

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Wanda
Wanda who?
Wanda have some hairy crab?

Alright, it is lame but it did put a little smile on your face right? Anyhow, the hairy crab (aka Chinese mitten crab 大閘蟹) season has arrived! To my knowledge, the male crabs which have more meat usually mature around September and female crabs which have more roe mature around October. There is a specific way to open a hairy crab (or any crab for that matter) and you can check out Geoff's Twitchen for more details.



Apparently there were some special promotion after 8:30pm and it was very crowded by the time my friend and I arrived around 8:40pm. There were many hairy crab dinner sets and among the many, we picked one the slightly more expensive one because they have a Coconut Bird's Nest Sweet Soup as dessert. (Note: the set came with 3 hairy crab, one female and two male)

(1) Chinese Hua Diao Wine
The set comes with a cup / glass of Chinese Hua Diao Wine (20 years so it claimed). It was served at room temperature and without the dried plums I like. The scent was alright but no surprises in my opinion.




(2) Xiao Loong Bao (Hairy Crab Roe)
Although the dough skin was rather thick, the dumpling contained a lot of meat and roe juice which were delightful indeed. I guess one should not be deceived by the look of the Xiao Loong Bao until you got the chance to actually tried it.



(3) Hairy Crab (Male)
The male crab is known for its meat and not its roe. It took me a long while to open it because it was hot. One simple way to distinguish if the crab is male or female is to look at its bottom. Male has a pointy triangular shaped outline whereas female has a rather round outline. (You can check the picture of a female crab in the next section for a clearer picture of it)



The color of the roe was rather pale and not very vivid but the meat was tender. I would not consider this finger food but it was something fun to eat with my fingers. It required skills and patience to really finish each crab!



(4) Hairy Crab (Female)
As pointed out early, female crab can be identified by the shape of its bottom. Female has a round shape while male has a shape triangular shape.



The roe of the female hairy crab was way more vivid and tasteful compared with the male one. The roe actually has some traces of sweetness to it which was nice indeed.



(5) Shark Fin Soup
After the crab came the sharp fin soup. Not surprised here, it was thick but a bit too salty by default. I had to add some red vinegar to balance the flavors.



(6) Stir-fried scallops with XO sauce
The flavors were great but the scallops were a bit too dry likely due to overcooking. The greens were Zucchini or perhaps Chinese Zucchini? I am not sure what those are called in English. Actually, if the sauce can be a bit more spicy it would be great.



(7) Stir-fried Prawns and Vegi
We were expecting more prawns actually, there were two prawns only! Not surprise and enough said!



(8) Steamed Sticky Rice
This was a surprise indeed. Although there was only a thin layer of sticky rice, it was great! Not overly sticky but chewy enough. Unlike those stir-fried sticky rice, the steamed version I had was definitely less greasy. Plus, the ingredients were not mixed so you adjust your desired level of flavors by putting as much or as little as you want.



(9) Coconut Bird's Nest Sweet Soup
This should have been one of the highlights of the night but it was rather disappointing. It was rich in coconut flavors but the soup was too watery and a bit too sweet. There were visible amount of Bird's Nest pieces floating around but definitely not plenty!

Likes:

• Steamed Sticky Rice - surprisingly good, not too greasy and you can adjust your own level of flavors
• Hairy Crab (Female) - sweet and creamy roe !
• Xiao Loong Bao (Hairy Crab Roe) - surprisingly juicy inside

Dislikes:

• Coconut Bird's Nest Sweet Soup - too watery, too sweet, too much coconut flavors
• Shark Fin Soup - a bit too salty by default (red vinegar would help)

Avg Spending: HKD 300 - 500 per person

Super Star Seafood Restaurant 鴻星海鮮酒家
Shop 4101, Gateway 2, Harbour City,
17 Canton Road, TST
Tel: 852 2628 0336
http://www.superstargroup.com.hk/



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