King Crab Cooked in Creative Ways

King crab with fried rice and truffle, topped with pine nuts

This evening we were treated to a gourmet dinner at the Michelin Bib Gourmand Seaport City Seafood Restaurant in Vancouver where the highlight was a 13lb king crab! 

They are the largest of the commercially harvested crabs and are highly prized for their high yields in meat that tastes sweet. They also have very hard shells and the body and legs are covered in spines. 

Crab legs with a wasabi-mayonnaise sauce

We had the classic preparation of the meaty legs sliced lengthwise and steamed with lots of minced garlic and scallions, and then another plate of legs smothered in a slightly scorched but bright lime green sauce that turned out to be wasabi-mayonnaise.

That was slightly nasal intensive, clearing out the sinuses!

There was yet another preparation that was bright yellow in colour -- the leg joints were served with finely chopped yellow peppers on a large platter with steamed rice rolls. But bite into the crab and it had a spicy chilli kick!

Finally, the shell of the head was served with fried rice that combined white and wild rice, with prawns, crab meat, hint of truffle, and pine nuts. 

Crab joints with rice rolls and minced peppers

Some creative ways to cook the crab, though we still prefer the traditional way, with the sauce soaked up with egg noodles...