Friends who have traveled to Japan will probably know that the three famous crabs in Japan include: Sapporo king crab and hair crab in Hokkaido, and pine leaf crab in Sanin Prefecture and Tottori Prefecture.
Hokkaido's sea farms are rich in famous king crabs, flower crabs and deep-sea fish heads. The Japanese in Japan cook sea crabs in a very special way, they will use seawater to cook crabs, the locals' favorite crab is freshwater hairy crabs, and freshwater hairy crabs cooked with seawater have a different taste. Eating a crab meal in Japan generally does not have any seasonings and extra preparations, but only a "ice" process, so that customers can eat the freshest and most elastic crab meat.
1. King Crab: Japan's "King of Crabs"
Known as the "king of crabs", the king crab is loved and respected by people because of its large and fat, green and pollution-free growing in cold deep-sea waters.
Japanese king crab is also known as Alaskan king crab or Japanese crab. Crustaceans of the decapod order, scientific name Paralithodescamtschatica. It is found in shallow waters off the coast of Japan and Alaska, but also in the Bering Sea. It is one of the largest crabs and weighs more than 5 kg (11 lbs).
This crab is all wild, produced in the waters near Alaska, and is quite large, or rather, the king crab that appears in the world is very large, because the size of the catch is limited, and the small and female ones have to be put back. A crab leg has two joints, divided into three segments, the longest of which is palm-length.
There are only two weeks of open fishing in a year, so the crabs that Americans eat throughout the year are caught in these two weeks, and only in that area, including the hawaiian islands, the crabs eaten are produced in Alaska.
Live crabs can survive for 24 hours after leaving the water in a wet and cold environment, and the frozen crab segments can be stored for 1 year after appropriate ice coating treatment. Fresh emperor crab shelf shelf life is one week; thawed crab is 3 days. Frozen crabs should be placed at minus 18 degrees Celsius and fresh crabs should be stored at 0 degrees to 1 degree.
Teppanyaki crab meat
There is a wall on the streets of Sapporo, and a huge model of king crab hangs majestically, almost becoming a landmark of Sapporo. There are several shops in the vicinity that eat crab, and the one we went to is called the Crab Pavilion, because there is a rare crab meat teppanyaki, which is a high-class choice in the crab meat feast.
The process of roasting crabs is like a performance
The process of roasting crabs is like a performance. The crab is a 4-5 kg Alaskan king crab with only long crab legs. The chef used a very thin sharp knife to cut through the shell of the crab, and after two or three clicks, the crab's feet were left with only thin curved hooks and fat leg meat. The crab meat should be grilled as usual, seasoned with only a few drops of Japanese soy sauce to preserve the original flavor of the crab meat as much as possible. There are also three bottles of salt on the table, namely Sicilian salt, Himalayan rock salt and Andean mineral salt, which take the taste of the sea water before the crustal movement, and those with heavy taste can add salt themselves. We have the original taste, the crab meat is very tender, and the sweetness is salty enough.
Traditional crab eating
In Hokkaido, the traditional way to eat crab is simple, usually cooked to make a cold dish, dipped in lemon, soy sauce or vinegar. The chef at the restaurant said he hopes to develop a new flavor of crab meat, and the unchanging taste will tire customers out, and it's not all about competition. Teppanyaki is a good business, and it is generally necessary to book a location a few days to a week in advance.
2. Hairy crab
The crab meat is full of flavor and the crab paste is superb
The flesh of the hairy crab is full and tender, although the crab body is small, the crab taste is fresh and sweet, and the unique rich crab paste is more appreciated by the old-fashioned. Many people think that winter is the season to eat hairy crabs, but in fact, summer is the best season for eating hairy crabs. The reason is that the spawning period of hairy crabs is in the summer, and the body accumulates rich nutrients, so it is particularly fat.
However, because of its abundant production, hairy crabs are eaten all year round. The best hairy crabs are produced in the far north of Japan, Munakata, starting from the Soya Strait to the Sea of Okhotsk, and is the largest and most natural catch in Hokkaido. In the spring, there will be drift ice floating from Russia, with a large number of plankton, into the food of hairy crabs, because after eating this full plankton, the hairy crab meat produced in Zonggu is full and flavorful, the crab paste is surging and the taste is superb!
The general standard weight of the mature hair crab is 600 to 800 grams, you can do some frozen hair crab dishes, light weight will do some pot material management, and even make soup materials.
The first step is to open the lid of the live hair crab, remove the lung lobes, and put them in the steamer basket to steam, which takes about fifteen to twenty minutes. After the crab is steamed, it is frozen in ice cubes for five to ten minutes, and then the crab body is dried with water. Wrap the crab body in strong absorbent paper for sashimi, put it in the refrigerator and freeze it, and mix it with a little Japanese grapefruit vinegar to enhance the umami taste of crab meat.
Another live crab sashimi method to be introduced is to eat only the crab arm part, which I think is more distinctive, and the name of this method is called "frost washing method". First cut off the live crab arm, use a knife to cut off the shell of the arm, and then put it into the arsenic filled with ice cubes, and then wash it forcefully, so that the crab meat fibers shrink rapidly. Then use strong absorbent paper to dry the crab arm, neatly drain the dish, with some decoration, you can make a live crab sashimi. When eating, mix a little soy sauce and wasabi puree is the best taste, and the entrance is refreshing and sweet, so I have to introduce it to everyone.
In Japanese cuisine, there are many dishes that use hairy crab as the protagonist, and there are also different flavors of each part of the crab body, making a comprehensive set called "hairy crab banquet". The menu includes crab vinegar, crab lid kola, crab foot cream sashimi, crab tea bowl steamed egg, crab kettle rice and crab pot and so on.
3. Matsuba crab: Japan's "King of Winter Taste"
Pine leaf crab, known as the "king of winter taste", begins in late October every year for a whole winter, and it is the meaning of the pleasure of diners. Tottori Prefecture, which faces the Sea of Japan, is the largest producer, producing about 300 tons per year.
From November onwards, crab-catching boats flock to the coast of Tottori Andi Port and Sakaiminato, and the arrival of matsuba crabs also represents the arrival of winter in Tottori Prefecture. The same crab has different names in different regions, and is called "Matsuba Crab" in the San'in area, while the Hokuriku region is called "Echizen Crab". Generally speaking, the pine leaf crab is a general term for male crabs and female crabs, in fact, the correct statement should be that the male crab is called a pine leaf crab, and the female female crab or a crab with eggs or a male crab that has just shed its skin is called a wakamatsu leaf crab.
The shell of the pine leaf crab is hard and the two claws are very thick, and the wakamatsu leaf crab is quite weak and soft due to its shelling, which is cheaper than the average pine leaf crab in terms of price, and it is quite popular in tottori. Generally, Japanese crab dishes include crab hot pot, grilled crab, and miso crab. This winter, let's try delicious crabs in Tottori Prefecture, where matsuba crabs are produced!
The pine leaf crab is as large as a washbasin, and the shell is also the size of a bowl. The body color is dark red, and it appears red after heating. It can be eaten raw (sashimi), boiled in salt, steamed, or served in shabu-shabu and grilled. When eating raw pine leaf crab, it is generally placed in cold water for about 5 minutes, then open the crab leg, which is a strip of crab meat, like pine needles, which can be easily eaten. This is said to be the origin of the name Pine Leaf Crab.
In addition to Tottori Prefecture, Matsuba crabs are also abundant in Fukui Prefecture (Echizen Crab), Hyogo Prefecture (Tsuju Mountain Crab), Aomori Prefecture, and Niigata Prefecture in Japan.