Why is crab roe bitter? What is the reason for the bitterness of crab roe?

Crab is a kind of creature in water, it can be eaten by people. Crab roe is the essence of it, and its nutritional value is particularly high. It can supplement the human body's amino acids and saturated fatty acids. But sometimes the crab roe will taste bitter. This is mainly because the crab has not yet matured. The crab roe will appear light yellow and cannot be eaten at this time. Eating this kind of crab roe will cause food poisoning. Below I will give you a detailed introduction to the reasons why crab roe is bitter.

1. The crab is not yet mature

The bitter crab roe is different from the golden crab roe we often see. The crab roe is lighter in color, thinner, and cannot clump into pieces. This is because the crab is too tender, the season has not come yet, and the crab meat is not thick at this time.

Recommendation: Keep the hairy crabs for a while before eating them.

2. Inadequate preparation of crabs

Poor crab preparation can also cause the crab roe to taste bitter. Preparation work should be sufficient before cooking hairy crabs. Except for Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, crabs must be kept in clean water for two days before being cooked. After two days, the crabs were basically “cleaned up”. A clean crab will have all the dirt in its stomach eliminated, so the crab roe will naturally not be bitter.

3. The crab is already sick

The roe of sick crabs is bitter and the flesh will not be firm. Such crabs are easy to die, and some are very large but not heavy enough. There are some gray-brown spots or patterns on the shells of sick hairy crabs, which are commonly known as "coccidiosis" - a common disease of crabs. Be careful to identify them when purchasing.

4. Tender crab roe is bitter but edible

The bitter crab roe is characterized by its color, being relatively thin, not clumping together, and not a large amount of it. This is mainly because the crabs are too tender and have not fully developed. This kind of crab roe is edible, but the bitter taste is unpleasant.

The crab roe is relatively full, but the color is slightly lighter than normal crab roe. Because crab roe is composed of egg cells, crab digestive tissue, and gonad tissue, the bitterness may also be caused by the crabs not being "clean". There are dirt residues in the crab roe, so this kind of crab roe is not suitable for eating.