Catch the Crab every Friday at Jakarta's Hilton Hotel

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Crab is one of the better known crustaceans and among the more popular dishes in Asian cuisine, despite its relatively steep price.

In most seafood restaurants, live crabs are kept in aquariums that are on display to customers, who can look over the selection and choose which crab they would like to see end up on their plate.

And in most Asian countries, flavorful crab meat is used to make a wide range of palatable dishes, using different cooking methods: steamed, boiled, deep fried or sauteed.

In supermarkets, you can also find crab meat (already removed from the shell) for soup, fried rice, noodles, omelets, sauces and other savory delicacies.

According to the Visual Food Encyclopedia, there are about 4,000 species of crabs in the world; most of them live in the sea, with a few others inhabiting freshwater. The crustacean hides under rocks, amid seaweed and in crevices.

The crab is not a fleshy animal, with only one-quarter of its body, mostly its legs and pincers, being edible.

However, its lean white and delicious meat is a good source of vitamin B12, niacin, and zinc, and it only has 60 milligrams of cholesterol per 100 grams of crab meat.

Some people love crab eggs, but it can often be difficult to differentiate between female crabs and males. The encyclopedia says that female crabs have a more developed ventral fin than the males, as they use the fin to hold the eggs.

For optimum freshness, most cooks and restaurants keep their crab supplies alive.

Introducing the rich flavors of Asian crab dishes, the chefs at the Jakarta Hilton International, led by Malaysian Mok Chee Wah, have specially prepared 11 different dishes for its Catch the Crab Night promotion, being held on Fridays at the Lotus Cantonese Szechuan Restaurant.

You can savor different kinds of crab dishes in this all-you- can-eat food promotion for Rp 98,000++.

For this special promotion, the hotel's chefs are preparing tasty Hong Kong-style steamed crab with egg white, mildly hot stir-fried crab with chili sauce, Taiwanese-style wok-fried crab with chili, stir-fried crab Szechuan-style and stir-fried crab with black pepper, Vietnamese-style.

There is also steamed crab with ginger and garlic, steamed crab with black beans, Teaochew-style steamed crab, fried crab with tom yam paste, Malaysian-style crab with curry sauce and wok-fried crab with sweet and sour sauce.

Before you go to the main course, you can choose from three crab-based soups: spicy Szechuan soup, mildly hot tom yam soup and a light crab broth.

For the side dishes, the chefs prepare a selection of vegetables and bean curd with crab and egg sauce, or crab with a double egg sauce.

To accompany the main course, diners can choose from four delicious fried-rice or noodle selections, including Hong Kong- style fried rice, crab meat fried rice, fried wonton noodles or e-fu mee with crab meat (the latter is similar to what is known locally as fried noodles).

As for dessert, diners can chose between a selection of seasonal fruits and a smooth, creamy mango pudding.

The crab theme is not limited to your plate during the promotion -- the hotel has decorated the restaurant with fish, crustaceans, fishing gear and a traditional boat, picked up from the Pasar Ikan fish market, for the promotion.