I had a laundry list of Things To Eat (TM) when I went to Korea last year and one of them is the famous Snow Crab. We stumbled upon this place that serves just that and another delicacy – Alaskan King Crab!
It’s a veritable Korean King Crab Experience! =D
Well, if you didn’t know, the reason Alaskan King Crab fetches such exorbitant prices is due to its unique place as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
Alaskan King Crab fishing that is, not that being a crab is particularly perilous, though I wouldn’t know, being homo sapiens instead of a crustacean.
One cold autumn night we decided to make a trip out of it and ordered several kgs of Alaskan King Crab and Snow Crab for dinner.
The place just pulls the crab you want out of the aquarium…
…weighs it,
and proceeds to boil it wholesale.
Unlike other Korean eating establishments we have been to, this one serves premium banchan (side dishes) like prawns and mussels.
They even have clams – it’s all seafood inspired.
You use scissors and a special fork to dig out the good parts of the crab but for the Alaskan King Crab, you can practically just dig in with your fingers!
I shit you not, this has gotta be the best crab I’ve ever had in my life. It’s just boiled but the photo of the tender, flavorful and squirt-in-your-mouth juiciness of the sweet crab meat is making me salivate like Pavlov’s dog right now.
The Alaskan King Crab is so HUGE you can just insert your finger into the thoughtfully prepared crab and dig out all the sweet juicy meat.
I cannot describe the taste with mere words, pictures or videos. It’s a nibble of nirvana for anyone into seafood. It’s a crab unlike any other – sweet and creamy due to the large proportion of fat in the Alaskan King Crab.
I literally ate a whole bucket of it.
Anyway, there was this (rather drunk) aunty from the table behind us who pointed out the error of our ways and kindly offered to help us cut the legs of the crab…before proceeding to force-feed me physically. I feel so violated. T_T
Alas, a stranger in a strange land and the local womenfolk took advantage of me! >.<
It should be noted that if you’re at risk for heart disease or stroke, you should not enter the premises under any circumstance. You’ll have a cardiac arrest when the bill arrives. I think we each paid around RM 300 in the equivalent of Korean Won for that crab dinner but you know what?
It’s worth every single fucking cent!
aslaskan king crabs is freaking expensive here
So HUGE the crabs!! I can tell from the pichas how sweet the alaskan crabs tasted. oh man, RM300 per pax…That’s expensive! But to experience & taste it, priceless.
debbie: It’s fucking expensive in Korea too – I’m pretty sure it’s pricey everywhere coz it’s so hard to get, deep sea dwelling creatures and the risk involved with fishing for it. 🙂
annna: Yeah, but it’s the best crab I ever had! It’s just boiled, very awesome. Each crab is about 2-3kgs each. It’s GIGANTIC! 🙂
Alaskan King Crab tastes good coz it has a high concentration of fat compared to other crabs…kinda like the Kobe beef of the crab world. 😉
Yeah, you have to try this crab, it’s amazingly creamy and sweet! 🙂
man… that literally made me hungry like hell.
Hi Huai Bin,
I have to agree with every word you said in your entry about Alaska King Crab. It is that good. I had an entry about it in my blog: http://theslogreviews.blogspot.com/2009/12/alaska-king-crab-at-ah-yat-seafood.html
How much is the cost of having it in Korea – per 100gm? Is it available in KL?
Genova: Same here, I’m craving for Alaskan King Crab now but I won’t be able to afford such a meal again anytime soon. :S
The Slog: Hmm…I can’t remember exactly, they charge by the kg for Alaskan King Crab, but it’s really expensive. It’s the Korean King Crab experience so we went for it anyway. 🙂
i thot those sea crab are meatless…hehe
btw thats very xpensive crab meal… :O
ah nel: Oh, Alaskan King Crabs are FULL OF MEAT! I was pleasently surprised. Unlike other crabs which have just a miniscule amount of meat in their legs, Alaskan King Crabs have CHUNKS of meat in their legs. You can insert a finger and push out CHUNKS of meat. Imagine that!
*drools*
🙂
I’ve never really liked crabs but after your post I could just be out and hunting for an alaskan crab meal. See! You’re doing good for the food industry and bad for my pocket! XD
Ryan: Oh, you’ll love this crab! Instead of the usual crabs where you have to crack hundreds of shells just to get a nibble of meat, Alaskan King Crabs is just practically made of meat – you can even DIG it out of the huge legs, nice large chunks of meat. 🙂
Are you using your free flights to go back to Korea?!
Limo: Hmm…lemme check if they’re flying that route. I believe they will. Nope, this was my trip there a couple of months back last year. 🙂
Well, you seem to attract the ladies where ever you go…even aunties. LOL
HB, is great crab to eat for it big and lot of meat. I like it very much. Other crabs are bit too small not much to eat or meat.
Cheers: Haha! The aunty was hitting on ALL of us. She was rather tipsy. Shochu is very cheap in Korea – and frequently drunk while having a king crab dinner. 🙂
Michael (Mike): Indeed! The Alaskan King Crab is the best crab I’ve ever had in my life. Flesh you can literally dig out with your fingers. There’s a lot of meat and it’s sweet and creamy. 🙂
they don’t call it the Alaskan king for nuthin.
cumidanciki: Yeah, it’s absolutely fabulous! 🙂
There’s so much flesh in the crab!
wow the crab is certainly very big. somemore so lucky to have aunty to feed you! Is her hands clean?!! Lol…
SORRY, I just got slapped up side the head. do the best you can. but now I want some krab leggs. some real crab leggs would be nice, but well… thanks HB, you have helped me, and others, and thats pretty nice. thanks. and happy “old ” chistmas ( 6 jan). tom
I hope you are well, sir. Just finished of the rest of the holiday ham, in a sandwih whilst watching area 9. gave me pause for thought, for sure. I have no solutions, just questions. meanwilhe, I am gonna have a ham and chesse sammich, and a beer, otay… dont make it harder than it is… tom
I guess it depends on where you live. lobster and crab is dear here inland, ( about 400 miles inland) but smoked ham was common as rocks… ham sandwiches, beans and ham. green eggs ann hamm… we all want what we dont have, and take for granted what we have… for a short time… but back in july /I said, man, i wish it was colder… well had enough of that just lately…. smile sir…
that good eh? must go Brunei and buy some to cook
eiling: She used the crab fork to feed me. Haha! 🙂
The crab is HUGE – and very meaty too unlike the crabs over here. It has an incredible amount of flesh.
tom: Yeah, indeed! Seafood is cheap in places with a coastal area over here too.
Take care my friend and be well!
Enjoy your sandwich! 🙂
Darren: Yeah buddy, it’s damn awesome! It’s premium crab, the king of crabs. The flesh that you can get from a single Alaskan King Crab is incredible. 🙂
that fork is called a lobster pick bro
foodcrazee: Oh, a lobster pick it is then! 🙂
Thanks for that!
Reminds me of a crab place I went to in Fortaleza Brazil 7 years ago. They served us non-stop crab. It was great! T_T
jessy: Non-stop crab! That sound absolutely fabulous! I’ll just eat non stop. 🙂
paid rm300 each
so the dinner cost rm900 ?
It was over RM 2,100! 🙂
I remember there were 7 of us in the party (actually 8, but one person didn’t eat due to dietary restrictions so he we excluded him when we paid the bill). Each of us 6 paid the equivalent of RM 300 in Korean Won and the woman in the picture (Jenn, our client) picked up the remainder of the bill, so she paid more than RM 300 – it was just easier to break down that way, she wanted to buy us dinner but it was so expensive and we knew that she couldn’t claim it as a business expense so we all paid our share.
Can i know there place you went to in in korea?