No, we’ve never tasted Shanghai Hairy Crab before. But it must be really good (and popular) to merit being sold fresh via vending machine.
News of this latest on-the-go seafood delicacy to hit Chinese cities first exploded via Japanese TV and has since gone viral. The Shanghai Hairy Crab (s) in question are kept at five degrees Celsius to make them hibernate. But with prices between 12o and 600 Yen, the crabs apparently come in sizes too! That’s neat-o in our book.
Dig this: If the crab comes out dead (that’s really gross) the owner/inventor of the vending machine promises to reimburse you with three fresh crabs. We’re actually afraid having a dead crab come out of the machine is to be expected. How can you possibly keep crabs fresh unless you change them everyday? So while the idea is great and offers the customer a new gastronomic experience, we believe maintaining a string of fresh crab vending machines can be a major headache, much less one.
But who knows? Shanghai Hairy Crab might be popular enough to explode across China and Japan.
We can’t stop wondering though, what are those Hairy Crabs thinking/dreaming in their near-frozen state. Just as “Do robots dream electric sheep?” do Shanghai Hairy Crab sing ‘Under The Sea’ in Chinese while aslumber?
Via Dvice
