Spicy Crawfish

Kouwei Xia is Changsha's warm-weather obsession. Plump crawfish are cleaned, stir-fried at volcanic heat with massive amounts of dried chilies, fresh garlic, ginger, star anise, and cinnamon, then simmered in beer. The result is a sticky, spicy, aromatic sauce that coats every shell. Eating them is a hands-on, messy affair — peel the shell, dip the meat in the sauce, and wash it down with cold beer. A single meal can involve kilograms of crawfish and hours of happy eating.

📖 History

Crawfish became popular in Changsha in the 1990s, introduced from Jiangsu. Changsha chefs adapted it with local chili-heavy flavors, creating a street food phenomenon.