MeMc Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 I'm writing a piece for DCist on Dungeness crab, inspired by the one I bought at whole foods on Sunday.I spoke to several distributors in Oregon and CA, who noted that everything on the east coast right now is from Alaska, since the CA, WA, and OR season is delayed and is just underway. Of the three options for buying them-- frozen, fresh, and live--the safest bet, according to them, is frozen or cooked fresh, then shipped, since the live ones allegedly need to be cooked right away so they're not listless, turning the meat bitter.Where have you bought fresh (cooked where caught and shipped, not frozen) or live in the DC area? If you have bought a live one, was the meat as sweet as you had hoped? And, do you have a weigh-in on our chesapeake crabs' flavor versus a shipped dungeness? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 I'm writing a piece for DCist on Dungeness crab, inspired by the one I bought at whole foods on Sunday.I spoke to several distributors in Oregon and CA, who noted that everything on the east coast right now is from Alaska, since the CA, WA, and OR season is delayed and is just underway. Of the three options for buying them-- frozen, fresh, and live--the safest bet, according to them, is frozen or cooked fresh, then shipped, since the live ones allegedly need to be cooked right away so they're not listless, turning the meat bitter. Where have you bought fresh (cooked where caught and shipped, not frozen) or live in the DC area? If you have bought a live one, was the meat as sweet as you had hoped? And, do you have a weigh-in on our chesapeake crabs' flavor versus a shipped dungeness? This is a subject near and dear to my heart. Did you buy a LIVE one at Whole Foods??? If not, you need to get yourself to the Great Wall Supermarket in Falls Church and check out their crabs. I bought a couple of "Canadian" crabs there last week. I have absolutely NO use for crabs which have been cooked and then frozen. ICK, ICK, ICK. Frozen Snow crab legs RUINED a risotto I made with it out of ignorance. (Great Wall does have, however, packages of frozen crab meat that doesn't appear to be cooked. It's expensive, though.) You can find live Maine lobsters on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. So, how come you can't find live Dungeness crabs on the East Coast? Maryland crabs are probably the sweetest. But, they are so small compared to Dungeness, that it doesn't make that much sense to me to "lump" them together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeMc Posted December 6, 2005 Author Share Posted December 6, 2005 My bad. They were not frozen at all; they are cooked and shipped. Fedex. Daily. Duh. No wonder they're pretty damn good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 My bad. They were not frozen at all; they are cooked and shipped. Fedex. Daily. Duh. No wonder they're pretty damn good. My question is this, and I hope you pursue the answer for your article: Why can we not get LIVE Dungeness crabs on the East Coast the way LIVE Maine lobsters are available on the West Coast? I've been flummoxed by this issue for more years than I care to enumerate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ol_ironstomach Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 My question is this, and I hope you pursue the answer for your article: Why can we not get LIVE Dungeness crabs on the East Coast the way LIVE Maine lobsters are available on the West Coast? I've been flummoxed by this issue for more years than I care to enumerate My personal theory is that Maine lobster, being the second tastiest crustacean on the table after my beloved blue crab, commands enough of a premium to justify the constant air-freight. Dungeness...well, let's just say it doesn't do anything for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hm212 Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 On Sunday got two dozen from Camerons - they were small but enjoyed the afternoon in the backyard snacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edenman Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Dungeness season is a big deal out here in SF. I've become a big believer in steaming them in two stages (first, whole, then removing the legs and finishing the bodies separately). Details here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NolaCaine Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Didn't check out the price but Good Fortune in Eden Center has live Dungeness crabs. In fact, they have a lot of live crabs of different storts...and fist, and eels...no frogs. yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hersch Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Didn't check out the price but Good Fortune in Eden Center has live Dungeness crabs. In fact, they have a lot of live crabs of different storts...and fist, and eels...no frogs. yet. Fist? They have live eels? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NolaCaine Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Fist? They have live eels? SOB. I am not that good at self editing. FISH. Although they probably have pig nuckles which is a pig fist so yes, they probably have fists too. Yes, live eels. Live. Swimming. IN a tank. You could take a small child and explain that it's a free aquarium... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anhdeluxe Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 9.99/lb. as of Tuesday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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