"Foodball" — Crayfish

On July 15^th in Russia, the 2018 FIFA World Cup descended its curtain with France claiming their second World Cup title. People are still immersed in the dramatic tournament and unwilling to turn themselves away from it. After all, it was an eagerly-awaited period which only happens every four years and what’s more — it was a great chance to enjoy delicious food all through the night!

To some extent, the World Cup is not just heaven for football fans, but also paradise for foodaholics.

The cool beer

A famous Chinese presenter BAI Yansong said: “Everything in China visited Russia for the 2018 World Cup except for the Chinese football team.” The facts behind this joke were several sponsorships from China such as Wanda Group, Vivo, Mengniu Dairy and Hisense which are conspicuous around the football field, not to mention numerous Chinese fans in Russia. Despite all these, there were a batch of special visitors — the crayfish.

According to the report, more than 100,000 crayfish had been well cooked and packed on the China –Europe train before the beginning of the World Cup, waiting for their spectacular performance. Being bred in Wuhan, across the vast distance and finally arriving at the bars and cafes in Russia, these tantalizing crayfish had been dressed in several flavors to fit the taste of people from all over the world.

No matter the spicy, the chilled, the salty…each flavor cannot be told without having a bite because they just look the same: the whole crayfish turn scarlet after being fried and the oil gilds the shell making them gleam alluringly; a few caraways, sesames or hot peppers sprinkled serve as not only adornments but also seasonings to highlight the flavor. As for the texture, some of them are hot and tender — the meat seems to melt in your mouth while the piquancy conquers your taste buds; the others may taste cool and stretchy like a mini football bouncing up and down on your tongue.

Tasty crayfish

Is this delicate dish difficult to cook? The answer is no. Let’s take spicy crayfish for example.

Step 1 Clean the crayfish. Make sure they are rinsed thoroughly though it is quite time-consuming.

Step 2 Slice the ginger and garlic; stir-fry them when the oil is heated and then add peppers and aniseed.

Step 3 Put the crayfish with cooking wine and vinegar into the wok; fry until the crayfish curl up and turn red.

Step 4 Keep frying with a spoon of bean sauce.

Step 5 Pour some beer into the wok; boil it with high heat and then turn to moderate heat.

Step 6 Add sugar; cover the wok to braise it. When the water in the wok is going to evaporate over, turn back to high heat to help the crayfish absorb the liquid.

Step 7 Let’s enjoy it!

The spicy crayfish