梭子蟹 (suōzixiè) · swimming crab, blue crab

Measure Word

一只梭子蟹 zhī

Meanings

1 swimming crab
2 blue crab
3 three-spot swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus)

About the ingredient

水产 Fish and seafood

A sea crab with a dark purple shell marked with pale blotches, the most fished crab in the world, nearly all of it caught off China. Females full of red roe are sold as 红膏蟹.

Contains shellfish

Also called 白蟹

Characters

Examples

HSK 6

秋天的梭子蟹最肥美。

Qiūtiān de suōzixiè zuì féi měi.

Swimming crabs are plumpest in autumn.

HSK 7-9

我们买了两只梭子蟹清蒸。

Wǒmen mǎi le liǎng zhī suōzixiè qīngzhēng.

We bought two swimming crabs to steam.

Tips

memory

梭子 means 'shuttle'. The crab's shell is shaped like the weaving shuttle that slides back and forth on a loom: flat, pointed at the sides, with back legs flattened into paddles.