bounties of the pacific

The Dungeness crab harvesting season had been delay this year, because the crabs were not fat enough. It finally opened in January. I made a point to go buy some. The prices had been quite high in recent years but not this time. Often the one I found are not necessarily from Oregon. They can be from Washington state. The size have been noticeably smaller in recent decades from memory. It can just be how the sizes were graded in the distribution process.


I was hoping to find a big and fat one, but no luck despite my attempt to pick and choose. The price was right so I bought two. I only buy live crabs.

 one of the two crabs

 two of two

I boiled the crab for 8 minutes and it was thoroughly cooked. Something I discovered is you want to immediately dunk it in cold water right after for a minute. This cools the meat and it shrinks a bit to make it easier to remove from the shell when you pick out the meat.

When I was relatively clueless, I used to dip the meat in melted butter. I now developed my favorite condiment. It is just a simple mixture of soy sauce, wine vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil and with some finely sliced ginger. While the carbs were not as large as I would like, they taste so much sweeter than the ones that I had been having. Strange as it sounds.

I usually eat the legs and claws in on setting. I then harvest the remaining meat and use it to make a dish. This time I use them for a big pot of all seafood congee. Of course the tomalley is saved and went into the congee.

What do you do with a two pound of fresh Alaska cod leftovers? Nothing goes to waste, including the skin. I saved the skin. I deep fry the skin to make a delicious snack.

skin from the piece of Alaska cod

skins from different fish taste very differently; the cod skin is quite chewy and not as crunchy as skins from smaller fish; just a bit of salt and pepper and they beat any junk food snacks

What do you do with the tasty broth left over from Sichuan water poached fish 四川麻辣水煮魚? The options are limited only by my imaginations. I can make a noodle dish. Or I can make a simple improvised Sichuan hot pot.

a simple improvised Sichuan hot pot using the leftover from Sichuan water poached fish

What to do with the crab meat and tomalley? I used them to make a pot of all seafood congee. This pot has sea scallops, Alaska cod, crab tomalley and carb meat.

all seafood congee dungeness crab

with so much crab meat, I also made a crab meat rolled omelette with cheese - east meets west