近年來，殼多肉少，味美汁香的小龍蝦火了。

曾經(jīng)鮮見于餐桌的它，在不少地方一度只是小孩的玩物，而今，它成了紅遍中外的爆款美食。

可你有沒有想過，為啥火了的偏偏是它？ 

在湖北省會武漢和小龍蝦主產(chǎn)地潛江，吃“蝦”早已成為一股風(fēng)尚，在茫茫吃貨中，我們似乎找到了一些答案。

About 10 plates, dotted with crawfish legs soaked in oil, are spread across a small table. What little space remains is occupied by piles of crawfish shells and two bottles of spirits. 

差不多十個盤子擁擠在一張不大的桌子上，零零星星的的小龍蝦腿浸在油里，點(diǎn)綴其中。小龍蝦殼在剩下的不多的空間里堆成了小山，兩瓶白酒立在其間。

This is the scene at a packed crawfish restaurant in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, where demand for the freshwater crustaceans is running hot.

這一幕出現(xiàn)在武漢一家座無虛席的小龍蝦餐廳里，對這一淡水甲殼類動物的需求在這湖北首府火爆異常。

? 竟有人“飛的”三千多公里只為小龍蝦而來！ 

Li Fei, his face reddened, waves his oily hands around and says, "My five friends and I have flown all the way from Urumqi (capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region) for about four hours just to eat crawfish for the next three days."

滿臉通紅的李飛（音）邊搖晃著他那油跡斑斑的手，邊說：“我們六個人，從烏魯木齊坐了四個小時飛機(jī)過來，只為一件事：在接下來的三天里吃‘蝦’?！?/p>

For many, this group's passion for the dish may be extreme. But it gives an insight into just how much Chinese enjoy eating crawfish, which in the past decade has risen to unbelievable heights of popularity.

也許很多人會覺得他們對食物的熱情有點(diǎn)太過狂熱，但從中我們也可一窺中國人對小龍蝦的喜愛。過去這十年，小龍蝦達(dá)到了難以置信的火爆程度。

 小龍蝦甚至和啤酒一道成為看世界杯的必備。世界杯開幕當(dāng)天，從晚9點(diǎn)到12點(diǎn)的短短三個小時的時間里，美團(tuán)外賣就送出了超過150萬只小龍蝦。

The species is said to have been brought to China by the Japanese in the 1930s. Decades ago, crawfish were rarely seen on Chinese dining tables.

據(jù)說，小龍蝦是1930年代由日本人帶入中國的。幾十年前，中國餐桌上鮮有它們的身影。

This year, however, crawfish have been marketed in increased numbers－even before they mature－to meet demand. The dish has been a must-have for fans watching matches during the World Cup soccer tournament in Russia.

然而，今年小龍蝦銷量增長迅速，為了滿足食客的需求，沒等它們生長成熟就要投放市場。在俄羅斯世界杯期間，這一菜肴更是成為球迷們的觀賽必備品。

When the World Cup started on June 15, Meituan-Dianping, China's largest on demand online service provider, delivered more than 1.5 million crawfish between 9 pm and midnight across the country.

6月15日，世界杯剛剛拉開帷幕時，美團(tuán)點(diǎn)評作為中國最大的即時在線服務(wù)供應(yīng)商，從晚上9點(diǎn)到午夜12點(diǎn)在全國范圍內(nèi)累計運(yùn)送了超過150萬小龍蝦。

去年，我國小龍蝦相關(guān)產(chǎn)業(yè)產(chǎn)值同比增長83%，達(dá)到了2685億元，而其中以餐飲業(yè)為主的第三產(chǎn)業(yè)的產(chǎn)值就達(dá)到了2000億元。小龍蝦產(chǎn)業(yè)仍在快速擴(kuò)張。

Crawfish-related industries, including farming, processing and catering, saw output rocket by about 83 percent year-on-year to reach 268.5 billion yuan last year. Crawfish catering alone generated about 200 billion yuan.

養(yǎng)殖、加工、餐飲等小龍蝦相關(guān)產(chǎn)業(yè)產(chǎn)值去年增長約83%，達(dá)到了2685億元，其中僅餐飲業(yè)一項就創(chuàng)造了2000億元的產(chǎn)值。

The market continues to expand rapidly.

小龍蝦產(chǎn)業(yè)的市場仍在迅速擴(kuò)張。

人口不足百萬的潛江，是“蝦稻共作”模式的誕生地，如今有15萬人從事龍蝦相關(guān)工作，小龍蝦年消費(fèi)量更是達(dá)到了驚人的50萬噸。

In the 1990s, Liu Zhuquan, a farmer in Qianjiang, reportedly invented an agricultural method to combine rice planting with crawfish breeding. This has been widely adopted in many areas of China and has helped to greatly increase the supply of crawfish.

在上世紀(jì)90年代，潛江市農(nóng)民劉主權(quán)發(fā)明了一種將水稻種植與小龍蝦養(yǎng)殖結(jié)合起來的農(nóng)作方式?！拔r稻共生”模式在中國多地被廣泛采用，極大提升了小龍蝦的供給量。

Even Liu has been surprised by the popularity of crawfish. "The dish is so popular that many crawfish were put into the market even before they matured this year," said the farmer, who has been in the industry since coming up with the new method.

“蝦稻共生”模式創(chuàng)始人劉主權(quán)對小龍蝦的風(fēng)靡程度也感到有些吃驚。“小龍蝦太受歡迎了，甚至于今年有些小龍蝦還沒長熟就進(jìn)入了市場?！眲⒅鳈?quán)說。

據(jù)潛江市政府介紹，劉主權(quán)的“蝦稻共生”模式如今以應(yīng)用于該市43000余公頃的稻田。去年，這一行業(yè)的產(chǎn)值高達(dá)230億元。

Qianjiang, which has a population of about 1 million, now boasts more than 2,000 crawfish restaurants, which can offer more than 100 different courses of the dish. About 500,000 tons of crawfish are eaten in the city annually, and more than 150,000 people now work in crawfish-related industries.

潛江市約有100萬人口，而現(xiàn)今擁有超過2000家小龍蝦餐廳，可以提供百余種小龍蝦菜肴。在這個城市，每年有50萬噸小龍蝦被端上餐桌，超過15萬人在相關(guān)行業(yè)工作。

小龍蝦為什么火

即便價格一路高漲，圍繞著小龍蝦的“謠言”滿天飛，但吃“蝦”之風(fēng)在中華大地只增未減。相信手機(jī)前的你不禁要問了，小龍蝦憑借什么征服了眾多食客的味蕾？

有人道，小龍蝦讓“低頭族”抬頭做人，有人道，小龍蝦實現(xiàn)了“人人平等”。

Zhang Denghua, president of Chuxiawang, a crawfish restaurant in Qianjiang, said the dish has gained popularity as it "offers the best platform for people to socialize".

潛江味道工廠楚蝦王創(chuàng)始人章登華說，小龍蝦之所以流行，是因為其“為人們提供了最佳的社交平臺”。

如今，餐桌之上，眾食客忙著玩手機(jī)，近在咫尺，卻相對無言，這般景象早已司空見慣。

If they eat crawfish, however, using their phones becomes difficult, eve***********e, as they have to use their hands to pull off the shells, leaving their hands covered in oil.

而吃的如果是小龍蝦，玩手機(jī)就沒那么容易，甚至不太可能，因為眾食客們早已因為剝小龍蝦而滿手是油。

The dish is tasty, but it takes a lot to satisfy diners. So they continue to eat, which also prevents them from holding their phones, Zhang said.

小龍蝦好吃，但又吃不飽，所以得一直吃，而且吃這東西，一直握著手機(jī)可不行，章登華說。

Crawfish used to be only a midnight snack, but has become a formal dish for dinner," he said.

“小龍蝦之前只是宵夜小吃，如今卻一躍成為正餐。”章登華說。

張駿是武漢的一名工程師，從2003年就開始吃小龍蝦了。他對于小龍蝦的火爆也有自己的看法：因為小龍蝦打破了階層的隔閡。

He said that originally the dish was only sold in small, dingy restaurants but is now served in more upmarket eateries.

他說，起初，小龍蝦只在昏暗不潔的小店售賣，現(xiàn)如今已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)在高檔餐館的菜單上了。

Zhang Jun said crawfish works well in helping people to socialize, but he does not agree that it has gained in popularity because it prevents people from playing with their phones during dinner.

張駿同意吃小龍蝦會促進(jìn)人們的交往，但防止人們在餐桌上玩手機(jī)并不是小龍蝦愈發(fā)流行的原因。

No matter who you are and what your social status is, you have to pocket your pride when eating crawfish. You have to roll up your sleeves, as the oil will soon cover your hands and even flow to your elbow. From this point of view, it helps bridge the gap between different people," he said.

“無論你是誰，來自哪個社會階層，要吃小龍蝦，就不能‘端著’，都得擼起袖子，因為油不僅會沾滿你的手，甚至還會順著胳膊一路而下，流到胳膊肘。從這一點(diǎn)上來講，小龍蝦能拉近人與人之間的距離?！睆堯E說。

Zhang Jun said crawfish does not have much meat. It is time-consuming to eat, which makes it a perfect food for people to enjoy together.

張駿說，小龍蝦沒有什么肉，吃的時候很費(fèi)時間，正是這一點(diǎn)讓其成為人們社交時的絕佳食物。

而無論是誰似乎都在一點(diǎn)上保持了高度的一致，那就是：好吃才是王道！

Zhang Jun said the main reason for the popularity of crawfish is its taste, which appears to be universally accepted by all diners.

張駿說，小龍蝦的口味受到了各地食客的青睞，這是其火爆的主要原因。

Li Fei, the man from Urumqi, said: "Instead of beer, we drank spirits. Why? Because beer takes up too much room in the stomach. The crawfish is tasty. We want to save space for it."

不遠(yuǎn)千里從烏魯木齊來武漢吃蝦的李飛（音）說道：“我們不喝啤酒，只喝白酒，為什么？因為小龍蝦好吃，啤酒占肚子，我們要把肚子留給小龍蝦?！?/p>

諸位看客，對于小龍蝦火起來的原因，您又怎么看？歡迎留言討論！

編輯：左卓

實習(xí)生：宋安康

報報推薦你看↓↓↓