Comments on: Crab Brain Misconceptions

By: フレドリックス東 » Payoff, Long Weekend

フレドリックス東 » Payoff, Long Weekend — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:14:20 +0000

[...] the crab was the best. It was served with cooked crab meat on top of rice, with a little spoon of kani miso on top. [...]

By: Jamcan

Jamcan — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:17:34 +0000

Thats because the majority of “so call goodies” in the crab’s back is its FAECES!! waste matter!!

By: Charles Jannuzi

Charles Jannuzi — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 02:48:13 +0000

But given the volume of the green stuff, the ‘everything but the white meat (and gills)’ theory sounds the most plausible.

By: Charles Jannuzi

Charles Jannuzi — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 02:15:56 +0000

I always assumed kani-miso is crab ganglia. At any rate, I like ice cold combined with crab meat in sushi.

By: Moxie

Moxie — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:05:08 +0000

actually, Changshu is pretty close. There’s a lake around there called YangChengHu(Lake Yangcheng) which is where the best crabs originate. However, recent years the lake has been polluted and overfarmed to a point where most “Shanghai Crabs” now are brought there to soak for a day or two just to claim authenticity, even though most are brought in from places like Hunan. Many better quality crabs now are farmed in home-made pools in rural areas of Changsu and Wuxi, and are grown in clearer parts of Taihu(The Big Lake).

It’s also called Shimizu-kani in Japan because it’s simply just a breed of freshwater crabs native to China. Most popularized by Jiangnan(Jiangsu and Zhejiang province + district of Shanghai combined) cuisine, thus the popular name Shanghai crab. My family has been selling crabs in our restaurant for the past 3 generations, so I know a little about these hairy and quite dirty delicacies(considering they’re never washed before cooked, the gills should never be eaten, and the eater’s hands should be wiped every time after touching the hairy pincers)

Beggar’s Chicken(or mud baked chicken) is originally from around the area, with different variants in each city. It’s a famous dish in Huaiyang cuisine(Huainan/Yangzhou style) and Hangzhou cuisine, with the exception that the Hangzhou version is wrapped in a lotus leaf for the added aroma.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 22:03:44 +0000

Wow! Now that I think about it (brain size and such) it really makes sense; I was just as fooled by the word “miso” as everyone else.

The question then is why other brains (i.e. human brains) are called nomiso. They don’t really look anything like miso to me.

To Gourmet in Washington,

Shanghai crabs are actually from a wealthy suburb of Suzhou called Changshu. It’s about 1 hour west of Shanghai. The only reason I know this is I had a friend from Changshu who was indignant about it. He said Changshu is also the birthplace of the dish beggar’s chicken. Just a bit of trivia which I have not independentaly verified – take it with a grain of salt.

By: Purple

Purple — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 02:22:23 +0000

If all that stuff in the crab really was brains, crabs would have to have the largest brain to body size ratio in the world… as far as I know humans hold that honour and crustations, well lets just say they ain’t that smart.

Research provided by stippy.com

By: Marvin

Marvin — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:10:54 +0000

I haven’t ever caught crabs like fuckedgaijin but have tried kanimiso and hated it. Like shiokara and natto, just the texture and look of these things make me want to puke, so no thanks.
Incidentally I did ask my wife what she thought kanimiso is and she said the expected: nomisou. She was shocked to hear otherwise as purple points out, but she does want to know just where this research comes from. (Her belief system now in tatters…)
Personally I don’t care. I hate the stuff.

By: fuckedgaijin

fuckedgaijin — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 12:54:52 +0000

I caught crabs in Shanghai too..

By: Gourmet in Washington

Gourmet in Washington — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 05:21:22 +0000

I was never really much of a fan of crab miso, in fact I wasn’t really much of a fan of crabs, themselves (because it is such a pain in the arse to eat). It wasn’t until I came to Japan (I know this is ironic) that I sampled a Shanghai Hairy Crab and fell in love. The Shanghai Hairy Crabs are still small and hard to eat but the “miso” is sooo sweet you could eat it for dessert. Just like you said, Purple, it is sooo good over Tofu!
I assume from the name that the crabs come from Shanghai but don’t really know. I wonder if it is even tastier there… But for me it is a delicacy that I’ve only experienced in Japan. Why is it that the Japanese are so informed of delicacies from so many different countries that we’ve never heard of in the states. We can definitely learn a thing or two!