alaska king crab and clam fettuccine - 帝王蟹和蛤意大利扁麵

Yesterday was a rare dry day here in the great Pacific Northwest in the normally soggy Oregon. I took advantage of it to go grocery shopping and my timing was great to avoid the worst traffic. I never plan my grocery shopping like most of my purchase, I let chance unfold and my instincts to decide what to buy. The truth is there are some exceptions, like the items that I use all the time, ginger, garlic, scallions etc. I usually go to the Portland East side because I can generally get what I need for the week with the least amount of fuss. I do shop at my nearby supermarkets but mostly for when I don't feel like driving across town.


I took my usual route hitting An Dong Market first. I can usually get 75% of my shopping done there and it has the best selections of Asian vegetable and dry sundries. I really out did myself in this trip. I bought a big box of grocery from An Dong, and my next stop was to the Asian seafood store OM Seafood planning to just pick up a small amount of what ever looks good. I was thinking a medium size lobster and some clams.

The store only have a few lobster left and as I went through the tank they were all too small. I grudgingly settled on a dungeness crab. I picked one fat one and grabbed some small clams, and a dozen of cherry stone oyster (that you can eat raw on half-shell). They have a live Alaska king crab in a tank. Just as I was paying I asked the lady owner how much per pound is the king crab, without intention of buying. $18 if I remember correctly. She went on and point out she have some dead ones for just $40 apiece. All but one died yesterday in the tank because the water was too warm, she told me.

the live Alaska king crab in the tank - is a a rather small one

I expressed my sympathy to her and said you must lost a shirt in this deal, knowing how thin the profit margin these businesses are. I thought if what she say is true $40 for a whole (recently deceased) king crab is a steal. I asked to see them.

Sure enough she have two packed in ice and I picked out the largest and decided to take it instead of the crab. Out of curiosity I put it on the scale to see what it weights in. About 8.5 lb, which the owner said will cost over $150 if live. Stretching out it measures about 2.5 feet in length. Before I knew what happen she said it still moves. I looked closer and she was right, the legs moves sluggishly. I could see she (the shop lady) was a bit sore, but she hesitated and stuck to the deal. I would gladly pay her a bit more if she asked. I left the store feeling like a bandit.

i came home with two boxes of grocery - i always ask for the boxes because I can put everything in one box instead of many paper bags which tends to tear

The unplanned purchase of the huge king crab really thew a monkey wrench in my grocery. I now have way more food than I can eat so I have to be creative to wisely process them or preserve them.

the box on the right has the king crab, live clams, and cherry stone oysters

 this is a big mama and fortunately for me, I have restaurant size cooking vessels

Chinese has a proverb that goes something like - a nation keep an army for decades, for used in the event of one day; this giant Thai steam pot is one such example

 live clams

 cherry stone oysters

i bring the water to near boiling and put the crab in (so to lessen its suffering); i was afraid it struggle but it didn't and I quickly place the lid on

 after 14 minutes I took it out to break it down in the tray

 i had one decadent meal of crab legs - i ate 4 and felt incredible guilty

most of us are used to eating the legs we buy from supermarkets that all too often are too salty because the added salt preserve the crab longer in the store; this fresh crab taste so sweet with just enough natural salt content that you can eat it bare

 i was stuffed after 4 legs

 i proceeded to process the rest of the crab to avoid waste and to preserve what is edible

the meat in the body is very flaky and disintegrate easily - some pours out together with the body liquid including a lot of tomalley and there is very little of gut and waste

clearly this is a female and there is a ball of roes - i tasted one and it has a rubbery skin; i am thinking of saute it in a bit of butter till a bit brown

for how big the animal is there is very little waste aside from the shell; i captured all the juice and tomalley for cooking

 today i made this king crab and clam fettuccine using only the meat from one leg

 six small clams and one king crab leg made an incredible fettuccine