Eating snow crab: a New Years tradition

Yeongdeok Daegae is an all natural healthy food

By Roger Dix

It’s the New Year and many Korean people, like many people around the world, turn to conventions of tradition and participate in certain culinary customs that claim to bring good health and good fortune to anyone who partakes in those customs. One Korean New Year custom that I particularly enjoy partaking in is the custom of eating “daegae” around the first of the New Year. Daegae is the Korean term for the large indigenous snow crab that inhabits the cold waters of the northern parts of the East Sea. It is said to bring to those who eat its succulent meat around this time of year good health, a bounty of physical stamina and a good dose of excellent health throughout the remainder of the year. It is believed by many Korean people that the chemical compounds Taurine (Taurocholic Acid Nc26H45O7S0 and Chitisan (ChitinC8H13NO5) found abundantly in snow crabs breaks down cholesterol, absorbs heavy metals, cleans the liver, thus ‘purifying’ the body, helping to give it a fresh start for the New Year.

If travelers drive along highway 7 around the region of Yeongdeok-gun (Yungduk County) in North Gyeongsang Province, they will see many large signs and billboards boasting oversized pictures of giant, spidery-like orange colored snow crabs. The signs are there along that stretch of road to let people know that they are in the snow crab capital of Korea.

Beware though, there are many claims by many towns along the east coast that their snow crabs are the best, the “real thing” they’ll tell you. But don’t believe the bravado boasting. Their crabs are only second fiddle to Yeongdeok Daegae, the real thing. Also, for those who seek the prediction of the “good health and good fortune” New Year’s Day custom of eating snow crab, ONLY Yeongdeok Daegae carries the karma necessary to deliver that custom’s prophecy true, or so I have been told.

The best place to eat Daegae is in Samsahaesang at Gangju Harbor, a picturesque seaport only a short distance away from Yeongdeok town, which is agricultural by industry. Gangju Harbor is a bustling place where crab boats and a good size fishing fleet tie up to docks lined on their street side with canneries, markets, and an unbelievable number of restaurants. It is there that you can buy, trade, or haggle over prices for crabs, fish, squid, octopus, and creatures that many foreigners have probably never seen before. The streets around the harbor (there are only a few of them) are narrow and raucously alive with “ajumma” hucksters and wholesale merchants trying to convince potential customers that their ‘catch-of-the-day’ is the freshest and the best and therefore one must do business with them. As for choosing a restaurant to eat in, do so with some discretion. Even though most places will charge the same prices (daily prices for Daegae seem to be fixed by a market standard and, of course, supply and demand – Korean New Year bringing higher prices), ask at several different establishments before stepping into one. And be sure the price is agreed upon before sitting down to eat.

As for the crabs, the eating is an epicurean delight. Daegae meat is sweet, tender, firm in texture, and moist. Unlike many Korean foods, Daegae is not accompanied with any peppery sauces or fiery condiments. It is simply what it is, fresh, plainly steamed in its own salt water juices – no additives, no preservatives an all natural healthy food. After steaming, the crabs are brought to the table and laid upside down so that all the juices collect in the top shell part of the crab’s body. After opening the crab (pulling the crab body carefully away from its outer shell so as to retain the juices) diners can ‘dig in,’ eating the meat anyway they desire, for Daegae is a hands-on, finger-licking,’ good time fun food to eat. Eating Daegae is a social pleasure that requires no formality and little dining etiquette, where relaxed manners around a table summons light hearted conversation and satisfied smiles. When finished eating the crab’s meat, the restaurant’s host will mix steamed rice, laver [dried seaweed], and a couple of splashes of sesame oil along with chopped onion into the upside down shell full of the crab’s juices and fat. With a spoon for scooping out this delectable compliment to the crab, sit back and savor this wonderful treat – BON APPETIT or as they say in Korean: MAN.EUN.GUT.JU.SAE.YO or MAN.HEE.JU.SAE.YO!

So go on over to Yeongdeok-gun and Gangju Harbor and enjoy Yeongdeok Daegae during this Solar – Lunar New Year season and may you have a healthy prosperous 2011, remembering that everything that is good about Korea is not necessarily in Seoul.