[heavyG]

Ever had the Hairy crab that is only available in November (in Hong Kong), so sweet. You mostly eat the roe, not the meat. and the only way to buy them is live on the street tied up in a bamboo straight jacket.

G

[shroomgirl]

passed live blues at the Asian store last sat, $3 a # or so.....they also had live in the tank small, read size of a silver dollar abalone......thought they were endangered and only certain divers on a full moon could catch one...so why are they in an edible fish tank in STL, Mo.?
just curious. figured you that know pacific shellfish may know the answer.
Actually I'm a blue crab claw fan. Lump was too mild.....lived on the Louisiana coast for years, and had alot of backyard crab or crawfish boils.....newspapers/new potatoes and all.

[heavyG]

I was in Hong Kong / Southern China a couple of weeks ago, and there was a huge controversy brewing about counterfeit blue crabs flooding the market. Seems not all seafood is labelled properly before heading to market... Big suprise.

G.

[KYHeirloomer]

Shroom, as I understand it, the ban on harvesting abalone only applies to California waters. It's not that abalone is endangered, just that it was being overharvested off the California coast.

The ones you saw probably came from Asia.

[shel]

Originally Posted by KYHeirloomer

Shroom, as I understand it, the ban on harvesting abalone only applies to California waters. It's not that abalone is endangered, just that it was being overharvested off the California coast.

The ones you saw probably came from Asia.

There's no "ban" on harvesting California abalone, just some strong restrictions, which have been in place for years. Harvesting abalone in California is managed through size limits, limits on the number of permits for commercial abalone divers, and restrictions on harvesting areas. Some areas are closed to abalone harvesting in part because abalone is an important food for sea otters, and harvesting certain abalone in certain areas (south of San Francisco, iirc, reduces the food supply to these lovely creatures, putting a strain on their population.

The Pacific Northwest and Alaska also have supp;ies of abalone.


Shel

[MikeLM]

Old thread, but still fun. Still don't agree crabwise with KYH, but that's what makes horse races.

Only thing I wanted to add is a recommendation for a restaurant in Portland, OR that I haven't been to in over 30 years.

When I was there, they had been in business over 100 years, so I'm guessing they're still plugging along. If they're not, you can ignore the rest of this post.

It's Jake's at a location in downtown Portland that I can't even begin to remember; they offered a Barbecue Crab Leg dish that was lumps of Dungeness crab-leg meat simmered and served in a crock with a wonderful BBQ-style sauce.

They served it with a really BIG loaf of crusty, house-baked bread. First time I had it, (I was there by myself, down from Seattle on a consulting job) and I said to the waiter..."you're out of your mind - I couldn't possibly eat this much bread at one meal!"

Turned out that, dipped in the BBQ sauce (the bread, not me) and topped with a piece of crab, I sure could!

My son was there five or six years ago and said Jake's was still doing their thing.

This sort of nostalgia doesn't always work out... my wife and I were in Boston some years ago and tried several of our favorite restaurants from college days - notably Durgin-Park and Jakob Wirth's - and found they had become third-rate tourist traps.

Hope that's not the case with Jake's.

Mike

[Gunnar]

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE ZOMBIE THREAD!! I COMMAND YOU!!


yeesssss.....mmaaasssttteerrr...i...hear...annnd ...obey



lol, just teasing. at least its from just last year

[DC Sunshine]

Gunnar thou art ein Nincompoop But that was a masterful resurrection.

I was kinda wondering what lump crab was too. It's lumps of crab!

Simple really, once you know. I thought it was a particular sub-species etc etc etc

[Gunnar]

lol, well I won't be too hard myself..cause others will do that for me

cheers

[greyeaglem]

Off the subject, but this reminds me of a thread where someone was going to enter a seafood soup/stew in some prestigious contest and wanted everyone's opinion about the ingredients. One of the ingredients was bay scallops and someone told the person not to be cheap and to get sea scallops. I didn't comment at the time, but I'll take bay scallops over sea scallops anytime for flavor. And I felt their small size was perfect for the use as they would fit on a soup spoon. I'm sure there's plenty of people here who think I'm wrong, but that's my preference. Must be the same for the crab, everyone has their favorite. K.Y. is right though in that unless you live near a wharf, any crab you buy in any form will be pasteurized.

[Just Jim]

Originally Posted by phatch

Pick through it for any shell fragments.

Phil

A black light helps immensely.

I love fresh dungeness.
The best way is is to live back them, which is just as it sounds, pull their backs off while they're alive.
Clean out their lungs a junk and toss them in the pot.
When they're done they are ready to eat, and much sweeter as they weren't cooked with the discarded stuff.
Funny thing though, they really don't like their backs pulled off while they're alive.
I know, whodathunkit?
If one latches onto your finger and you kill it before getting loose, you're going to need some pliers.

[Phaedrus]

Originally Posted by greyeaglem

Off the subject, but this reminds me of a thread where someone was going to enter a seafood soup/stew in some prestigious contest and wanted everyone's opinion about the ingredients. One of the ingredients was bay scallops and someone told the person not to be cheap and to get sea scallops. I didn't comment at the time, but I'll take bay scallops over sea scallops anytime for flavor. And I felt their small size was perfect for the use as they would fit on a soup spoon. I'm sure there's plenty of people here who think I'm wrong, but that's my preference.

I don't see how you can be wrong about what you prefer! My main gripe about Bay Scallops is that nearly every batch I've ever had was gritty. It just seems like they don't get the sand flushed out of 'em.