小龙虾 (xiǎolóngxiā) · crayfish, crawfish

Measure Word

一只小龙虾 zhī

Meanings

1 crayfish
2 crawfish

About the ingredient

水产 Fish and seafood

Red swamp crayfish, mostly farmed in rice paddies; China is the largest producer and eater. They are cooked whole in the shell, most often numbing-hot with chili and Sichuan pepper, or with garlic or thirteen-spice, and peeled by hand.

Contains shellfish

Used in 1 dish

麻辣小龙虾 málà xiǎolóngxiā

Characters

Examples

HSK 3

夏天的晚上，我们常常去吃小龙虾。

Xiàtiān de wǎnshang, wǒmen chángcháng qù chī xiǎolóngxiā.

On summer evenings we often go out for crayfish.

HSK 7-9

这家店的麻辣小龙虾辣得我一直喝水。

Zhè jiā diàn de málà xiǎolóngxiā là de wǒ yìzhí hē shuǐ.

The spicy crayfish here is so hot I couldn't stop drinking water.

Tips

culture

Despite the name, it is not a small lobster (龙虾) but the red swamp crayfish, brought to China from Japan around 1930. In the 2000s it became the classic summer night snack, eaten by the plateful with beer and disposable gloves.