Life Tips

How to Choose Good Meaty Crabs: A Tutorial

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Vietnamese Mud Crab One of my fondest childhood memories is when the crabs that my father bought escaped from the pail and we had to spend a good part of the day looking into every corner of the house to find them!  My Pa is a big fan of crabs but I can always remember him complaining that the crabs he bought turned out to be useless "Water" crabs with very little meat time and time again.  This is why I dedicate this post to my dear old dad. I finally found out the secret to choosing crabs, Pa! Crabs are getting more and more expensive, so it is imperative that everyone has a little knowledge about how to choose good ones so that we won't end up spending all those hard earned dollars, only to grumble and curse that the "solid" looking crabs turned out to be scrawny little things underneath that deceptive armor yet again!The Life Cycle of the Crab The crux to picking a good crab lies in a basic understanding of the life cycle of the crustacean.  This really is the key that unravels the mystery to why some crabs turn out to be disappointments even when they are so active and solid looking when you pick them out of the tank.

Difference between Male and Female Crabs The crab starts off life as a little egg which hatches and gives rise to a zoea which soon turns into a megalopa which looks a lot like a mini lobster.   Crabs are crustaceans, just like a lobsters and prawns, and so they share the same body structure.  The head and thorax of a crab are dominant whiles the tail is shrunken down into a small abdominal plate which gets tucked under the crab's body.  That is the part of the crab we usually look at to determine if it is a male or female. Very soon the crab takes on a more familiar form and continues to grow by molting.  The shell of the crab does not grow, so as the crab reaches the limit of its growth, it sheds its old shell to reveal a new "soft shell" underneath.  It then pumps itself full of water and the new shell swells up like a balloon up to about 20% bigger than before and then it starts to harden.  Once the new shell hardens, it would look very much like any crab on the outside, but the inside of the crab contains a lot of water and little meat.  The crab then eats and fills its new shell with flesh.  Hence, the key to choosing a good, meaty crab is to be able to pick one that is nearing the end of its current cycle rather than the beginning! 

Next we look at the underside of the crab.3.  Underside The underbelly of the new shell crab would look slightly blue and be quite flat whereas the older shell crab would look more yellowish and the segments would have a tell tale bulge like Arnold Schwarzenegger's six pack.  If you are able to depress the abdominal plate, the crab will not be full of meat4.  Abdominal plate One of the most reliable signs that the crab is full of meat is to press on the abdominal plate as shown on the video. The empty crab would have a lot of give while the meaty crab would have very little or hardly any give at all. This sign is the most reliable because a crab might have all the signs of a worn out shell, but if it is kept for too long without any food, it would also start using up its energy stores and the flesh will start to atrophy. Once the flesh starts to shrink, the way to tell is by pressing on the abdominal flap as well as the segments.Where you buy the crab is important This tip really should be right at the top of the post.  If you buy your crabs at the supermarket, than your chances of getting a good crab is slimmer than if you buy it from a seafood specialist where there is a quick turnover of crabs.  One of the things you should never do is to buy crabs that are stored in water.   When crabs first arrive into Singapore, they are first refreshed by putting them into brackish water for 6 hours to get their gills wet, then they are stored out of the water in order to limit their activity so that they don't use up their energy stores. Subsequently, the crabs are put into water for only 2 hours a day.  Crabs can survive out of water as long as their gills remain wet.  If crabs are kept in a water tank, they tend to be very active and so they will use up their energy stores quickly and their flesh will start to shrink.  So always buy crabs from a good supplier who stores its crab out of the water where they stay dormant! 

【小妙招】淘米水的神奇妙用

◎塑胶袋去油法
有时总会遇到锅盘的油太多，有些人并不太喜欢老用洗洁精，有什么办法吗？平时买菜总会有很多塑胶小袋，现在派上用场了，先用塑胶袋去擦拭锅盘的油，很管用的，而塑胶袋中，越薄的越吸油，擦过的东西，就很容易能洗干净了。

◎相框里的照片滑动
平时在相框里装照片时，总会遇到相框的间隙太大，照片会滑动的情况，只要在照片背面与相框之间，放上几条橡皮筋，照片就不会滑动了。

◎防背包滑落
如果你背着包要洗手的话，它老是往下滑动跑到前身来，真烦人。你把背包稍往后甩一点，然后在腋下夹一包纸巾，或夹一个小皮夹子，或眼镜盒，或体积相仿的物品即可。包就不会跑到前身来了，不信试试。

◎清除油盒内油污的好方法
有了抽油烟机，厨房的环境的确改善了，不过，集油盒的清冼工作又带来新的烦恼。给大家介绍一个好方法。就是前天将集油盒放到冰箱冷冻室中冷冻一个晚上，第二天拿出来，用小汤匙将结冻的油铲出来，就能很容易把油盒内的油污清除干净。

◎除衣服上的小碎毛絮
用洗衣机洗完衣服后，常会发现衣服上沾满了小毛絮，有时口袋里的纸忘记拿出来，被洗衣机一搅，全都沾在衣服上了。要清除这些毛絮真不容易。遇到这种情况，把衣服摊平，可找来一块海绵水里浸一下，用湿海绵去擦，这些小碎毛絮很快就可以擦掉了。

◎清除门把上的锈痕
以100%的蕃茄汁用软布沾取擦拭。一般用钢刷用力刷才去得掉的锈用此法就可轻松去除且不留刮痕。

◎鞋底易滑时的应急处理法
(1)用砂纸摩擦鞋底，可大大减低滑倒的可能。
(2)把生马铃薯切成两半，以横切面摩擦鞋底，就不会滑了。
(3)在鞋底贴胶布，尤其雨天特别有效不用担心滑倒。

◎去除地毯上的家具置痕
用争气熨斗再凹处喷一些蒸气，或将湿毛巾在凹陷的地方湿敷一下，然后用熨斗烫。再以硬毛的牙刷挑起凹处的毛，再轻轻刷顺即可。

◎消除盘子的裂痕
把盘子放进锅子中，倒入牛奶加热4－5分钟，牛奶沸腾后就可熄火取出盘子，裂痕就会几乎消失不见了。

◎复原淋过水的书刊杂志
只要把书页上的水稍稍抹干，再放进冰箱的冷冻室里，十几个小时之后即可平整如新，一点皱痕都没有。

◎巧别胸针

在单薄的衬衫上别胸针时，由于胸针本身的重量，往往会在衣服上留下比较明显的痕迹，只要在衣服里面粘上一块略大于胸针的医用白胶布，之后再别上胸针，就不会伤害你珍贵的衣服了，也可以用此法来别丝巾。 

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The way to reuse water bottles Caps!! 

 17个实用的煮菜窍门

 and the sand will slide right off your skin.