Cycle 5 – Item 62
8 (Sat) March 2014
Ginger Crab
1.5
at Seafood Market Restaurant
-Ermita, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines-
with Uncle CS, YHL
Whereas Seafood Market Restaurant is the default venue when the Korean staff at WHO hosts group dinners for guests from Korea, I’ve now been provisionally tasked with the task of ordering. The system as is does work; most of the dishes on the SOP list are excellent. But at the latest such dinner, in response to my grumbling a bit too loud about Korean culinary dogmatism, I was dared to improve upon the tried and true.
Unfortunately, the ginger crab wasn’t that great. First, the crab itself didn’t have much meat. And the shells of the local mud crabs here are so hard, even the parts close to the body, that chewing them to get at bits of flesh in the crevices, like say with dungeness crab, is impossible. Second, instead of deep-fried pieces stir-fried in a gingery gravy as I’d been expecting – as per Cantonese tradition, as this establishment generally tends to follow – the pieces had been braised in a watery broth with big chunks of ginger. So, this dish won’t be among the “new and exciting” items that I’ll be developing and debuting soon enough.
(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See also RESTAURANTS IN PHILIPPINES)
