I used to cringe at the sight of people pulling apart crayfish, a popular summer dish for Chinese urban residents.

They suck, pinch and peel the crustacean to access the tiny part of the body that is edible. Then with red, hot sauces around their mouths, they lick their orange fingers and gulp down a beer before attacking the next "little lobster", so called for its resemblance to its noble cousin.

Recently, I had my first taste of the dish while on a work assignment in a river town in Hubei province, known as the capital of crayfish. When I asked for a standard portion, I was shocked to be served 2 kilograms of crayfish boiled with spicy and numbing seasoning ingredients, all for less than 120 yuan ($18).