When the Autumn Wind Blows, the Crab Scent Drifts
Sanwen by Soon Ai Ling; Excerpt translated by Pow Jun Kai
Upon arriving in Hong Kong, my friend immediately asks if I have already tried the large hairy crab. I have always enjoyed eating crabs throughout my life. The horizontal moving prince is world famous. In Hong Kong different types of crab exist according to the seasons. The butter crab is most popular during the fifth and sixth months of the lunar calendar. After spring there would be the hairy crab, and when it is the season for the crabs to change their shells, we would get to savour the heavy shell crab. The heavy shell crab is well known for its double shells; its inner layer of soft shell is refreshing and tasty. As for the butter crab, after it is steamed, the crab shell thickens up with crab paste, and the crab oil overflows onto the claws and legs. The aroma is so fragrant. One can at most have one or two crabs a year. The hairy crab is my favourite and I must have it on at least three occasions.
Whoever is hosting a hairy crab feast at the restaurant would be deemed rather wealthy, because it is very expensive. One crab would cost a hundred to two hundred Hong Kong dollars. They come in four or six ounces; those heavier than six ounces are more expensive. Normally one person would have one crab, sometimes some people would have two each. If one were to eat a single crab, it would have to be the male crab, because other types of crab do not have such delicious essence. If one were having two crabs, it would be one male and one female, savouring the male before the female. Guests would normally have only one crab, because it is to enjoy the taste, rather than to fill the stomach. The host would thus have to order a few other dishes too, accumulating to a usual bill of three to five thousand dollars.
Having eaten the hairy crab, one can feel rather cooling. Therefore the crabs need to be marinated with ginger and vinegar. First, it is to prevent the pungent smell and, second, it is to remove the coolness. The vinegar comes from Zhenjiang, and is therefore black vinegar. It would be better if one were to drink a cup or two of hot rice wine. After the meal, one would also have to drink some ginger tea, which is made of ginger and brown sugar boiled in water. It should be drunk while it is hot. Eating the hairy crab for the initial time each year might irritate the stomach. To appease our gluttonous appetite we must however persist and indulge in a few more crabs even if the body may seem frail so as to get used to the dish.
It is best to purchase your own hairy crab to steam. Invite eight to ten friends and buy one or half a basket. One basket has 48 crabs, while half a basket has 24 crabs. With ten people, some can eat two or three crabs. If you want to eat more, invite only eight people. It is best to buy hairy crab from Lake Yangcheng, but the lake is not that big. The supply cannot meet the demand. Most of the crabs today come from Lake Tai as well as those from the crab farms.
Permission to translate the extract has been given by City Bookroom and Soon Ai Ling.
Translator’s Notes
By Pow Jun Kai
I have recently translated and published three short stories by the Singaporean author, Soon Ai Ling in international and local journals, such as Alluvium and QLRS. In my current collaboration with a sound artist, my brief was to locate a text that evokes the smells and sounds of Hong Kong. I ploughed through the entire 295 pages of the newly published volume of sanwen by Soon Ai Ling and fished out two pieces. I deliberated and carefully focused on a single page that most succinctly represent and convey the atmosphere and experience of savoring crab on the Chinese island.
My intention was to bring out sensory ambience through the text, but without enhancing the text with my own imagination or with anything that was not already set by the author. One of the basic requirements was identifying accurately the technical terms for different version of crab dishes, and it was no less a linguistic challenge for an arts student like myself. As the variety of crab dishes and species in Hong Kong are vastly different from those in Singapore, where the translator grew up, there became a necessity to be acquainted with the culinary specialty of the southern Chinese region. I studied the anatomy of the crab specimens, both of the male and female varieties. In the end, I settled on the simpler words, “butter” and “hairy” instead of “oily yellow” or “mitten” respectively.
I also wanted to ensure the accurate syntax of China place names. Decisions had to be made as to whether to translate Zhenjiang as the Zhen River or Taihu as Tai Lake. Referencing the translations of place names from other languages could elicit some useful lessons. The English translation of Fujiyama is Mount Fuji, where the positions of the noun and name are interchanged. On the other hand, places like Bukit Timah and Sungei Buloh are left untranslated from the Malay. Another relevant example was the romanization of Hong Kong instead of rendering the island as Fragrant Harbor. Last but not least, creative attention was given to retaining the imperial measurements and local currency without conversion for the reason that the author’s intention is to indicate relative as opposed to absolute values.