Last Monday, my extended family took me to Incheon for lunch. After selecting live crabs and shrimp from a stall in the covered fish market, we headed to one of the many restaurants in the purlieu that cook whatever live sea animals you bring in.
I know there are people in this world who complain that steamed crab is more of a hassle than a treat, that its succulence is not really worth the pains of cracking then digging out the edible bits while crustacean juice runs down your arms. To those people, I say: you fucking slackers.
With its springy texture and near-buttery flavor, the crab meat needs no accompaniment. Sure, if you can’t handle the seductive simultaneity of fresh and unctuous, you can always cut a morsel every so often with something mildly acidic, like wasabi and soy sauce. (Confession: I couldn’t handle it.)
A couple tips:
- Koreans make sure to buy some extra crabs for that mandatory stew at the end. To my delight, my grandfather even smuggled ramen in his bag to add to the dish, but it was all too steamy to photograph well.
- Don’t make the mistake of buying the large snow crabs in Korea; the smaller crabs, though inconvenient in their paucity of flesh, carry the umami you’re craving in denser form.
