Ganjang-gejang (Soy-Marinated Raw Crab)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large stainless pot, at least 5 quarts
• •Fine strainer
• •Large ice bath bowl
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Stiff kitchen brush
• •Kitchen shears
• •Nonreactive glass, stainless, or food-grade plastic container, about 3 liters
• •Small clean plate or sealed brine bag for weighing down the crabs

Instructions

1. 1

   Choose the crabs

   Buy live flower crabs if you can, especially spring females with orange roe under the shell. Autumn crabs are good too, often meatier, but do not make ganjang-gejang with crab that died before you bought it or with seafood that smells sharp, ammoniac, or tired. Cook the month you're standing in. If the crabs are poor today, make a cooked crab stew instead and wait for better ones.

   Previously frozen raw crabs can be used only if your fishmonger sells them specifically for gejang or raw marinating. A label saying raw is not the same as permission to eat it raw.
2. 2

   Boil the brine

   Combine the water, soy sauce, cheongju, soju, sugar, pear, onion, garlic, ginger, shiitakes, kelp, anchovies if using, dried chilies, peppercorns, and jujubes in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then lower to a steady simmer. Pull the kelp out after 8 minutes so it does not turn the brine slick and bitter. Simmer 20 minutes total, turn off the heat, stir in the maesil-cheong if using, and strain. The brine should taste too salty to drink but rounded by the fruit and aromatics, because the crab will release its own liquid as it cures.

3. 3

   Cool completely

   Set the strained brine in an ice bath, then refrigerate until it is 40 F (4 C) or colder. Do not hurry this. Hot or warm brine cooks the surface of the raw crab, dulls the sweet flesh, and gives you a half-spoiled texture instead of a clean cure. Notebook 42 says: cold brine first, patience second.

4. 4

   Clean the crabs

   Keep the crabs cold until you are ready to clean them. If they are very active, put them in the freezer for 30 minutes to quiet them and protect your hands; this is not a safety step. Scrub the shells, legs, hinges, and aprons under cold running water with the coarse salt and a stiff brush. Rinse well, trim only the sharp leg tips if needed, and drain hard. Do not lift the top shell or remove the gills yet, because the crab needs to cure whole.

5. 5

   First cold pour

   Place the crabs belly-up in a clean nonreactive container just large enough to hold them in one layer. Belly-up matters because the brine settles under the apron and reaches the body evenly. Pour the completely cold brine over the crabs until they are submerged, then weigh them down with a clean small plate or a sealed bag filled with extra brine. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours at 32 to 39 F (0 to 4 C).

   Use a glass, stainless, or food-grade plastic container. Aluminum reacts with the soy brine and leaves a metallic taste.
6. 6

   Boil again

   After 24 hours, pour all the brine into a pot. Keep the crabs covered and cold in the refrigerator while you work. Bring the brine to a full boil and boil 5 minutes, skimming any foam. Cool it completely again to 40 F (4 C) or colder, then pour it back over the crabs. Refrigerate another 12 to 24 hours. This second boil and cold pour keeps the brine cleaner and deepens the seasoning without putting heat on the crab.

7. 7

   Serve the gejang

   Serve after 36 to 48 hours of curing. Lift out one crab at a time, open the top shell carefully, and discard the gray feathery gills, mouth parts, and the small sand sac near the eyes. Cut the body into halves or quarters with kitchen shears. Arrange the pieces in a shallow dish, spoon over a little cold soy brine, and scatter scallion, green chili, red chili, and sesame seeds. Mix a spoonful of rice into the shell with the orange roe and crab paste. This is why Koreans call it bap-doduk, the rice thief.

8. 8

   Store with care

   Keep the crab submerged in brine and refrigerated, and eat it within 2 days after it is ready. For longer keeping, portion the crab with enough brine to cover and freeze up to 1 month, then thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Soy sauce is not a safety charm. This is raw seafood, so do not serve it to pregnant people, young children, older adults, or anyone with a weakened immune system.

Chef Tips

• •Use Korean brewed soy sauce, jin-ganjang, for the brine. Do not use guk-ganjang, Korean soup soy sauce, because it is too salty and assertive here, and do not use low-sodium soy sauce unless you are prepared to shorten storage and accept a weaker cure.
• •The ratio matters: 2 1/2 cups soy sauce to 4 cups water, plus rice wine and soju, gives enough salt to season the crab without making the flesh taste only of soy. 손맛 is real; I measure it anyway, so the next cook can repeat it.
• •Female flower crabs in spring give the prized orange roe, but local rules on crab seasons and female harvests differ. Buy what is legal and excellent where you live. Technique first, then the market you actually have.
• •Never taste brine after it has touched raw crab unless you boil it first. Use clean tongs and a clean spoon every time you enter the container.
• •Serve simply. Rice, gim if you like, and a few plain banchan are enough. A loud table of side dishes will only fight the crab.

Advance Preparation

• •The soy brine can be boiled, strained, and refrigerated up to 3 days ahead. Bring it back to a boil and cool it fully before pouring over the crabs.
• •Plan on 36 to 48 hours of curing before serving. This is make-ahead food, not same-night food.
• •Clean the crabs only when you are ready to marinate them. Once cleaned, they should go straight under cold brine and into the refrigerator.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 490g)