Osaka Crab ExtravaganzaHome >> Experiences
Visitors of Osaka are advised to not look up at buildings while driving, for they might well have an accident when they see one of the giant crabs with moving legs that adorn the many establishment who specialize in crab meals in this great city. In the window, a plastic promise of the delights awaiting us inside. I enter and they immediately recognize me as the gaijin whose hotel called to book earlier that day. As for most restaurants in Japan, this one deals exclusively in one dish, and it is stamped just about everywhere. I sit down and contemplate the minimalist tableware. A waitress arrives and glues herself to me. It's my honeymoon night with my new Nikon zoom. She caresses it looking impressed and complimenting me on its size. I start wondering whether they serve more than one sort of crab in this establishment. Finally I manage to order. I am so in love with my new zoom that I forget its 60cm minimum focussing distance and badly botch the picture of the dish as it arrives. The waitress starts placing crab legs onto the charcoal grill in the middle of the table. Crab brains are the tastiest part of that evil sea monster, but in the West serving them on their own has never catched on. The Japanese are much smarter than us when it comes to sea offal and serve it as the high point of the meal. More crab legs end up on the charcoal brazier ... ... until eventually they are firm enough to eat. No need for knives, the kitchen boys have already sliced everything open for us. Chopsticks ... ... and down the gullet. What a delight. So rich in iodine, so fresh, so juicy. And I guess that cardiologist bastard won't complain on that one, will he? The check arrives and when the waitress explains that the long figure is not the date but the price, I begin to think about my cardiologist again. A man goes for a healthy dinner once in his lifetime, and look how he is rewarded. At least with deep-fried atrocities one knows what to expect. The owner gives me a little ox statue to console me - 2009 is the year of the ox. I leave after an hour of refined culinary pleasure and walk back into the posh street between Bentley-driving corporate samurai out for some action and kimono-clad geishas and walk back to the hotel. 291070 views Did you like this article? Leave me a comment or see my most popular articles. Related Articles Duck Tour d'Argent * Popular A Soba Noodles Class in Tokyo * Popular Copyright FXcuisine 2024 - all rights reserved. |
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74 Comments
- #1
- Comment by lotsofcravings
so how much did the meal cost??? it was just some legs n brains?- #3
- Comment by will
Haha did you leave 10% tip or did you not have enough?- #5
- Comment by Geoff Ball
The food looked wonderful. Well could have been worse too, it could have been a sea urchin restaurant :) Always great shots FX.(Which lens you did you get :)
I bought a couple prime lenses with aperture rings so they will also work for my video camera's DOF adapter. The I used that night was a Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8, that's Nikon before-last generation wide angle professional zoom. It is good but doesn't really work for macro shots. I like the constant aperture and the lens is really sharp. I saw your photo blog, very encouraging, you might want to add also the shutter speed and ISO in the data, it would be interesting especially for the long exposures. The D300 is a great camera! I am eagerly waiting for Nikon to release a seriously-video-enabled full-frame camera to beat Canon's new EOS 5D
- #7
- Comment by sets
mmmmmmmcrab brain, my BSc. subject.And Kanidoraku my dream destination.
- #9
- Comment by macha
Ahaha, dotonbori-crab. I had that crab myself last weekend. If you home-order one (they come from Hokkaido or Russia)it's about 10000 Yen. If you eat them as nabe you can use the delicious stock to add into rice. The good thing is it's in season now and very tasty.Tip: Keep your eyes peeled, you might spot very small vans with live crabs in a cooled-aquarium driving around the city.
By the way, if you will be/were in Japan during late autumn you should try Sanma, a fish that is extraordinarily tasty and cheap as chips but unimpressive when out of season.
- #11
- Comment by Erik
Thank you for an interesting article. Could you please share some details about the "charcoal grill in the middle of the table" that were used for cooking the crab? I wonder if it actually would be possible to build one like that at home? Do you have any pictures of the charcoal grill that you could publish? Did they have some ventilation for the charcoal grill (so as not to be bothered by the fumes)?- #13
- Comment by Stephan Eisen
I forwarded your link to a friend who loves Japan. He said he read about this restaurant before and it will be closed soon...- #15
- Comment by Rosa
Fantastic! That steaming crab looks really goodCheers and have a nice weekend,
Rosa
- #17
- Comment by mellie
We loved the crab, but couldn't touch the kanimiso *shudder*- #19
- Comment by Paul Ho
Fantastic pics! thank you for sharing, those look like Spider Crabs, or also known as Snow Crab, the fat of the crab also known as the tomalley of the crab is the liver & not the brain, which as you have mentioned IS the best part of the crab!!! Crab & Lobster brains is the size of a grasshopper's. Please feel free to check out my facebook albums for some good eats from from the Northwest. Let me know what you think.........- #21
- Comment by sets
Re7: Actually it's the hepatopancreas (liver+pancreas in mammals).If crabs had brains that big they would have conquered the world!
- #23
- Comment by jaden
What lens did you get!? I just got a 24-70mm f2.8 and totally loving it.AWESOME CRAB. worth every yen?
For the lenses I got all sorts of f1.4 to f1.8 primes with aperture ring, including an awesome Nikon 85mm f/1.4 AI-s and a Voigtlander Nokton.
Happy new year and hope you are doing well!
- #25
- Comment by barbara
Well, you have opened up my mind, I never thought that crabs might have a brain. I suppose they do - but that one looks pretty big!Was the crab just crab, or was it seasoned with something?
Did you visit Kappabashi (Kitchen Town) in Tokyo?
One comment mentions urchins - I have eaten them, here in Switzerland, they are delicious!
I did visit Kappabashi Dori 3 times and then its cousin in Osaka 2 times. Came back with a load of extravagant cookware - but you know me.
- #27
- Comment by Diana Blinda
hello Francois Xavier,i am happy to have discovered your blog and since then, I enjoy reading it.
Now i am writing to ask how did you organized your trip to Japan, and what is your favourite place there, which you reccommend for the first time visit in Japan.
me personally i like to visit cities with great architecture, relaxed people, good food, and good weather. Until now my favourites are Singapore, Barcelona and Helsinki.
Please receive my best wishes for a great year 2009 !
Diana
- #29
- Comment by scott
Nice,thanks. I’m in New England and lobster and crab “tomalley” are more common than the rest of the US. In fact we did a lobster sashimi this season. Last time I was in Osaka I asked the office “expert” for a challenging dinner. We ended up in one of those tiny restaurants down three alleys that only exist in Japan. I’m a big fan of uni but “trio” of squid innards and certain parts of horse were once only events for me.- #31
- Comment by Zeppole
You are my culinary hero! May I be your trusty side kick...evil minion...ewerer... anything?As always the photographs, food and desriptions are amazing!
- #33
- Comment by Cris
I think you have a magnetism for freakie places, it's really amazing this building with the spider crab on, it seems a piece of art by Venturi o Claus Oldenburg.In Spain we adore this kind of crab but I can imagine how can be the experience to eat it in Japan,in such a sophisticated neighbouhood.Next time you travel to the West Country for cheese, you should try The Crab House Café for rustic and cheapy version (see my blog).Fanstastic photos.- #35
- Comment by chef4cook
Wonderful pics!- #37
- Comment by Laura D.
I absolutely love the shot of the chunk of crab being held in chopsticks. The steam is what makes that picture--wispy and insubstantial, yet vital to our understanding of the deliciousness of the crab.P.S. The giant mechanical crab outside scares me.
- #39
- Comment by sets
I actually measured the lipid contents of crab brain and did caloric estimates. Crab brains are extremely rich in fat and protein so you might want to adjust the healthiness and yen-calorie ratio ;)- #41
- Comment by thepinkpeppercorn
Fabulous photos, and such a delicious meal!! mmm!- #43
- Comment by sets
Re:is it even conceivable that such a meal (pretty much nothing besides the crab itself) would contain more than, say, 500 Kcal?Why not? Did they state that on the menu?
You did have sake in your 'crab brain' didn't you?
But then again, crabs could vary in caloric content according to their lifecycle, that the same shell size could yield completely different figures. Considering the recent surge of awareness in calorie intake, the food industry may well benefit by opting the lowest figures...
- #45
- Comment by michael
"THE WAITRESS CARESSED MY NIKON, LOOKED IMPRESSED AND COMPLIMENTED ME ON IT'S SIZE!" - so that's what you call it in Switzerland!- #47
- Comment by Leon
Haha, I went to Osaka just last year in December, and I went to one of those crab restaurents last year too. Did you eat a sushi which had the green roe of he crab on top? It's very strong in taste, but is fantastic.- #49
- Comment by macha
Hepatopancreas? I don't think they'd bother picking out the miniscule brain and other bits. Kanimiso is most likely "just whatever is inside" mashed up nicely.- #51
- Comment by sets
Oh I totally agree with macha. That's invertabrate biology geekery and irrelevant to culinary culture. To add: these creatures have powerful enzymes that mashes "just whatever is inside" the moment they die (or even as you dissect them alive), that's how crabs in the culinary sense only contain these yellowish mash of whatever.- #53
- Comment by donsiranni
Francois,I to love Japenese food,sushimi,all the seaweed stuff,but,for high cost it's tough to top fugu-in an upscale(safe)eatery(I wasn't paying).The puffers are netted from small pits in the marble floor next to the tables. It would make an exceptional photo,as the tissue thin white flesh slices show delicate red(poison blood) concentric lines,almost a perfect flower petal appearance surrounded by the espacially toxic offal, deep fried. Don- #55
- Comment by Donna Young
I was so crazy to have crab after reading this article, that I went on a serious crab dinner mission. I ended up in Queens, NY in an Asian neighborhood where I had the most wonderful Shanghai crab soup dumplings. (The soup and some pork & crabmeat are tucked INSIDE the dumpling.) You nip the dumpling and sip out the soup (which is steaming hot!) and then you eat the rest of the dumpling with soy sauce and ginger. FAB! Then I had a mound of sauteed bluefin crabs in a ginger garlic sauce. It was crabalicious! It wasn't quite the same as the Japanese crabs but yummy none-the-less! Cheers, FX!- #57
- Comment by anm
Hi FrancoisTrust me your cardiologist wont be pleased as crabs are high in cholestrol ,any shell fish ........
- #59
- Comment by sets
Unfortunately I've never studied human physiology. The harnessing of enzymes in seafood culture is an intriguing subject, indeed. I would imagine you could ask anyone in the crab industry and they would come up with a list of practices intended to avoid the damaging effects of autolysis. (And its reverse, too)Uhm, crab allergy, maybe? Although I'd suspect that to be a reaction to the products rather than the enzymes itself. I'm not sure.
- #61
- Comment by Nate
Great writing, just as tantalizing as your pictures.What is the little bamboo scoop for, the one next to your chopsticks?
- #63
- Comment by Michael
My mother stopped by when I was looking at this article, and her being a huge crab fan, I had to talk her down with the price of going to a Japanese crab restaurant! Great pictures as always, but can I ask what the crab brains taste like in respect to the rest of the crab? No place that I live (Being in in the lovely area of Western New York) is brave enough to try serving it.- #65
- Comment by Melit
I'm going around the world without leaving home, butjust reading your articles.You are an excellent story teller
with fine sense of humor.
Sometimes your photos looks like paintings...like
Rembrandts' use of light.
I love crabs,too.I'm green with envy!!!!
- #67
- Comment by Gareth
Another fantastic article, but then all your articles are fantastic. The crab certainly looks delicious but the whole thing must have been a great experience. Fantastic !!- #69
- Comment by Keith
Hmm... Last time I was in Osaka I didn't remember the crab being that expensive.Btw, is this in dotonburi? If you haven't gone there, it is definitely the place to go in Osaka for food, especially okonomiyaki and takoyaki. The entire street is all restaurants. When we were ther we ended up having like 5 dinners haha
- #71
- Comment by Mia
I just went to one of these in Kyoto! The great thing about Osaka is that the main shopping street has a few places that sell grilled crab legs on the go out on the street. I asked how many you get for the listed price of 500 yen, and the guy said two pieces. I must have looked disappointed though because when I bought them, they gave me three. :) Probably helps to be a girl.Never heard of kanimiso before. Funny that it has such a simple name in Japanese. Is the kanji the same as miso (as in soup)?
P.S. I'm new to your blog and LOVE it! I'm going to try your pumpkin gnocchis this week if I can find those pumpkins. It is Japan after all!
- #72
- Comment by david wong
I want to know where and the name of this restaurant with the big crab, I saw this in tokyo too.- #73
- Comment by ma. elena torres valdez
de veras que estoy muy agradecida con personas como tu, que tienen la oportunidad de viajar a traves del mundo y se toman la molestia de compartirlo con todos aquellos que no podemos hacerlo, y soy de mexico y tengo un pequeño restaurant de comida japonesa. me gusto mucho tus articulos. nuevamente gracias.Tell me what you think!
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