Keywords: Suzhou cuisine, Jiangsu cuisine, Chinese mitten crab, Huqiu, Tiger Hill

The name of the restaurant 李百蟹 “Li, the Hundred Crabs” refers to Li Ruiqing (李瑞清), esteemed educator, calligrapher, artist…and crab connoisseur.
店面李百蟹其实是清末教育家、书法家、美术家、吃蟹行家李瑞清的又一绰号。

As an educator he was the president of Liangjiang Normal College (precursor of Nanjing University), as a calligrapher he founded the Jinshi calligraphy school (金石书派), as an artist he tutored one of the most spectacular artists in 20th century China Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-chien) in both the art of painting and the art of cooking, and as a crab connoisseur he purportedly ate a hundred crabs in one day, hence the moniker.
作为教育家他曾是两江师范学堂 (今南京大学) 的监督，作为书法家他开创了金石书派，作为美术家他培养了张大千，而作为吃蟹行家据说他一天消灭了一百只螃蟹，故自号李百蟹。

He must had been extremely dexterous and/or others deconstructed the crabs for him like the way we ate at this restaurant, cause a few nights ago I spent around two hours to finish six mitten crabs.
日吃百只的手速，我等凡人望尘莫及，前几天晚上三对大闸蟹用了两个多小时。或者有人给他烹制了秃黄油之类的美馔。

PS: A bit about the Biluochun tea at 8:10 and 9:30 in this video https://youtu.be/O3EUKlLzLuA
不想吃蟹，而想喝茶? 上排链接的视频当中有简单介绍碧螺春 (新茶还是等到春天吧)。

PPS: Had one too many mitten crabs and feeling “cold” inside? Mutton is another remedy with “hot” property, and one way particularly suitable for winter is instant-boiled mutton hot pot https://youtu.be/klmiSKseHGs
蟹吃多了，感觉有点”寒”？涮顿羊肉补一补。

Name: 李百蟹·蟹粉专营店
Add.: 观前街蔡汇河头14号
Tel.: 0512-68666366
Cost (this meal): RMB 158/p
Price (online info): RMB 81/p

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