Ms. Kwon's Raw Crab Marinated in Soy Sauce

Koreans eat crabs in many different: steamed (classic since it preserves the taste of the crab meat), boiled as a stew (makes a great dish with rice), fried (almost like a snack/chips), or raw, marinated either in soy sauce (called ganjang gaejang) or in chili paste (yangnyum gaejang).

Since I was craving Korean food like none other (a rather odd sensation because I never crave Korean food when I’m in the U.S.!), I decided to choose the most “Korean” dish that I could eat (since I don’t eat pork belly, live octopus, or cow intestine…)—raw crab marinated in soy sauce.

“Ganjang gaejang” is often called the “Thief of Rice” because, by the virtue of the dish being very salty, people eat it with lots of rice, maybe a bit too much for those on a no-carb diet. I ordered a soy sauce crab meal, which included a bowl of rice, banchans, aged-bean soup (denjang-jiggae), and one whole crab.

I was a fan of all the different banchans. This green vegetable was really soft and savory from the sesame oil that was used to flavor the otherwise coarse and bland leaves.

The soup with aged-bean broth and beef was boiling and steaming like crazy when it came out from the kitchen.

There were ample amounts of scallions, pepper, mushroom, onions, and cubes of tofu, as well as really fatty beef that I immediately scooped out. I wished there had been more pepper to enhance the spiciness of the soup.

I wasn’t quite sure why there was seaweed, but I suppose it goes well with rice mixed with soy sauce?

When I was young and had little appetite, I always ate rice wrapped in seaweed with a piece of kimchi.

The kimchi was aged just the way I like it. It had a beautiful red color, and tasted pretty good as well.

The omelette had tiny pieces of carrots and pepper. I was happy that there was no cheese, or else I would not have been able to eaten it. It’s interesting how the egg whites and the yolk naturally separate. The omelette was a bit greasy, so I had to dab it with napkins. It must have been seasoned with salt because it didn’t taste bland (one of the main flaws of most omelette!)

The ggangdoogie is very similar to kimchi except instead of with cabbage, it is made with radish. I liked the ggandoogie better than the kimchi because I prefer the hard texture of the radish—give me something to chew!

This green vegetable was nowhere as good as the first one. It tasted really bitter and the soft tofu was an odd combination.

I didn’t even touch the sardines and the pepper. I love the tiny sardines that Mom makes, but these were way too big.

Plain white rice isn’t too healthy because it lacks nutrients. I was glad to see the rice with black, yellow, and other grains.

The entire meal captured in a camera.

The night’s highlight! The body was separated from the legs. The chef put really spicy red and green peppers and sesame seeds.

They separated the body on purpose so you could put rice in the shell and eat it with the intestines. It sounds really gross, but the salty, savory, and sea-like flavors all come together.
Just eating a scoopful of the intestine, eggs, and the rice may be a bit nauseating, however. A piece of kimchi will temper that feeling, but the strong flavor from the kimchi also tend to hide the taste of the crab itself.

This dish has to be made with the freshest, the highest quality crab because you are eating the meat raw.

I must have gotten a fat crab because it was full of meat!

The legs were conveniently divided into four pieces to make it easier to eat. The red stuff is the eggs (?). The crab tasted really good first few bites, but then my stomach started feeling nauseous again…that’s what raw seafood does to you.

This is the reason that people call this dish the “Thief of Rice.” Like salt and pepper, soy sauce crab and rice are inseparable.