The Red King Crab

In the North of China, we have a particular fondness over eating exotic seafood. Not your average shrimp or fresh water crabs, no, we like to eat specimens such as the one below. In case you are wondering what this ginormous monster is, it is of course the Red King Crab. It can be misleading calling it a red king crab, because of course, it is anything but red, but actually there are quite a number of different varieties of the Red King Crab, some of which only turn red after cooking, whilst others are a vibrant red whilst alive.

Today, the one we're having is a dark brown almost black colour, and originates from the Bering sea. Amazingly, the largest specimens can have leg spans of nearly 6ft, weighing about 13 kg at full size.

Unfortunately, because of their popularity, they are heavily fished in the Bering Sea and are becoming increasingly difficult to catch as their numbers dwindle, not only from over fishing, but also environmental changes. On the other hand, in the Barents sea, their numbers are increasing rapidly, so much so that they are considered an invasive species. Despite their invasive nature, and soaring population across the Norwegian coast, the Norwegians keep a tight control on their numbers and only allow 259 fisherman to catch it.

Now it is clear why it is called the Red King Crab! It's name actually comes from the fact that it turns a bright red after being cooked!

Like the lobster, the King Crab needs to be cooked live because of it's tendency to have bacterial decay very soon after death. The usual procedure is to boil it in a large pot. Sounds cruel but such is the fate of all crustacean seafood.

The Red King Crab will always be the star of every meal it appears in, for no other reason than it's sheer size. But today, we've got some other bits and pieces to help fill out the meal. Fish and pork ribs are quite a standard bread and butter side dish, and so are the various greens. The less appreciated but also incredibly unique food are the Mantis shrimp.

Yes, the mantis shrimp are indeed those prawn looking things and yes, they are the predatory shrimp with bullet powered knockers. The kind we eat in China are actually the slasher kind with the mantis style arms, they are farmed here and considered quite the delicacy. It is quite tough getting into the meat as their shell is spiky and very tough. Once you get to the meat, it is very rewarding though. Under every hard shell there is always a soft body, and with the Mantis shrimp, this is definitely true.

A little cupcake, tea and some grapes to finish off our very special seafood dinner. Yes, those are real grapes!

Did you enjoy the Red King Crab? I certainly did, it's one of those exotic seafoods that you always sea on youtube and other social media websites and I never really thought of it as being quite as special as people on the internet make them out to be. When you grow up in the north, they are actually quite common. Still, as common as they are to other people, they aren't so common to me, so it was a very good experience never the less.