China’s favorite dish in 2017 was crayfish, said a food consumption report by the China Cuisine Association (CCA). The others in the top-10 list include beef steak, roasted duck, sushi, boiled fish with pickled cabbage and chili, Chaoshan-style beef hot pot, rice noodles, lamian noodles, spicy hot pot and fried chicken.

The report said sales revenue in China’s catering industry surpassed 3.9 trillion yuan (US$607 billion) last year, an increase of 10.7 percent from 2016.

It said savory flavors were most popular among Chinese consumers in 2017, as they were favored by 23.3 percent. The spicy food ranked second, with 17.2 percent.

Crayfish, or “little lobster” in Chinese, was the most popular dish, based on a list of the top-10 most-ordered dishes on Chinese consumer app Meituan-Dianping.

Crayfish were first brought to East China’s Jiangsu Province by a Japanese merchant in the 1920s. According to the Global Times, they appeared in the Jianghan Plain, where Qianjiang is located, about 30 years ago.

They weren’t always a welcome addition to the ecosystem, especially for local farmers.

“They pinched off rice seedlings in the paddy fields, and made tunnels in ridges that caused water loss,” said Liu Zhuquan from Baowan village in Qianjiang.

In the beginning, crayfish were little more than a nuisance for the rice farmers of eastern and central China, but now the invasive species has become big business for one city.

China is the world’s largest producer of crayfish, with annual output accounting for over 70 percent of the world’s total. Around 80 percent of crayfish produced in Qianjiang were exported to Europe and the United States as pre-cooked food products.

Oddly enough, one of the largest U.S. consumers of China’s crayfish is the state of Louisiana where crayfish originally came from.

While crayfish dishes in China and New Orleans each manifest distinct local flavors, both are steeped in savory spices that are pleasing to palates around the world.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【小龙虾】xiǎolóngxiā crayfish “little lobster” in Chinese

【咸鲜味】xiánxiānwèi savory flavor foods prepared with a minimum of sugar and with no focus on sugary taste

都说“民以食为天”。据中国烹饪协会统计，在刚刚过去的2017年，全国餐饮收入超过3.9万亿元，同比增长10.7%。数据显示，过去一年，最受消费者喜爱的菜品种类前十位分别是：小龙虾、牛排、烤鸭、寿司、酸菜鱼、潮汕牛肉火锅、米线、拉面、麻辣香锅和炸鸡。

咸鲜口味是中国消费者2017年最喜爱的菜品味道，受欢迎程度达23.3%。麻辣口味的美食占据第二，受到17.2%的消费者青睐。

根据消费者点评应用美团点评选出的最具人气十大菜品排行榜，小龙虾成为最受欢迎的菜品种类。

上世纪20年代，小龙虾经一位日本商人首次引入中国东部省份江苏省。据《环球时报》介绍，大约在30年前，小龙虾出现在江汉平原。潜江市就坐落于此。

对于生态系统，特别是当地农民来说，小龙虾这种外来物种起初并不受欢迎。

潜江市鲍湾村村民刘柱全（音译）说：“它们把水稻田里的稻秧掐断，在田垄里挖通道让水分都流失了。”

起初，小龙虾让中东部地区的稻农很伤脑筋，但是现在这种外来物种已经成为这座城市的一大产业。

中国是全球小龙虾产量最高的国家，年产量约占世界总产量的70%。

潜江市生产的小龙虾约有80%被制成熟食产品出口到欧美。

奇怪的是，中国小龙虾在美国的最大客户之一——路易斯安那州正是小龙虾的原产地。

虽说中国和新奥尔良的小龙虾美食各具独特的地方风味，但都加入了唤醒全世界味蕾的香辣调料。

(Chinadaily.com.cn)