麻辣小龙虾 (málà xiǎolóngxiā) · mala crayfish

Measure Word

一盘麻辣小龙虾 pán

Meanings

1 mala crayfish
2 spicy-numbing crayfish
3 Sichuan-style crawfish

Made with

小龙虾 xiǎolóngxiā 干辣椒 gānlàjiāo 花椒 huājiāo 大蒜 dàsuàn

About the dish

湘菜 Hunan · 热菜 Hot dish

Whole crayfish cooked in the shell in an oily red sauce of chili, Sichuan pepper, garlic and spices, served in a heap. You peel them by hand, usually in plastic gloves, and eat the tail meat.

Usually contains shellfish

Characters

Examples

HSK 7-9

夏天的夜宵，最热闹的就是麻辣小龙虾。

Xiàtiān de yèxiāo, zuì rènao de jiùshì málà xiǎolóngxiā.

The liveliest thing at a summer-night snack stall is mala crayfish.

HSK 7-9

我们点了两斤麻辣小龙虾和几瓶啤酒。

Wǒmen diǎn le liǎng jīn málà xiǎolóngxiā hé jǐ píng píjiǔ.

We ordered a kilo of mala crayfish and several bottles of beer.

Tips

culture

Summer-night street-food phenomenon. 麻辣 ("numbing + spicy") is the classic Sichuan seasoning: dried chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, garlic, ground into red oil. 小龙虾 is red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), farmed all over the Yangtze basin, with Xuyi 盱眙 (Jiangsu) and Qianjiang 潜江 (Hubei) as the branded capitals. Eaten in giant metal basins with plastic gloves and cold beer.