Ever Heard of Alaskan King Crab Tails?
March 14, 2011
We’ve all heard of and enjoyed Alaskan king crab legs and claws. But how many of us have heard of Alaskan King crab TAILS?
I certainly hadn’t until I received a press release from the good folks at Elliott’s Oyster House & Restaurant in Seattle that informed me that although King crab tails are a rarity in restaurants, they are featured on Elliott’s Oyster House’s lunch and dinner menus this month.
Elliott’s executive chef Robert Spaulding describes the texture of crab tails as “somewhat like shrimp and the sweet taste of crab.”Although with the striated strips of flesh and mild taste, crab tails reminded me more of a cross between skate and monkfish.
A quick Google search turned up the following description of where crab tails actually come from: “King crabs have ‘tails,’ or abdomens, that are distinctive, being fan-shaped and tucked underneath the rear of the shell. Female king crab’s abdomen or ‘tail’ is very wide, covering a portion of each basal leg segment. Embryos are brooded under this tail on adults. Male king crabs have triangular shaped ‘tails’ which are only one third the size of females.”
In chef Robert’s preparation, which is served as an appetizer, three meaty crab-tail medallions are marinated with chili sauce, garlic, and shallots. They are then expertly grilled, with the perfect amount of char around the edges. Served with Jicama-Chayote Slaw and Chili-Lime Beurre-Blanc sauce, the Spicy Grilled King Crab Medallions, the generous serving (which was plenty for my entrée) is a steal at just $13.
And the good news is that “the tails are available as long as the frozen stock lasts, often into late summer or early fall,” according to chef Robert. “Fresh are generally not available as they are taken off at the processing plants and frozen.”
Cheers to today’s lesson in Northwest seafood!
Photo courtesy of Elliott’s Oyster House
My wife and I did the Inner Passage Alaskan Cruise on the Holland America SS Amsterdam in June/July and one of our ports was Kodiak. A small town so we basically got off the ship and started walking. You first pass through the fish packing district before hitting the heart of town. On the way back to the ship we passed a little storefront that was closed on our way into town but had opened while we were doing tourist stuff. The sign in their window said “Pickled Willy’s – Free Tastes” so we stopped in to see what they were offering. They had pickled red salmon, pickled halibut and pickled king crab tails. They also had fresh king crab tails. We tried everything but were immediately hooked on the fresh king crab tails. My wife liked the halibut as well so we asked about shipping (we’re in Pennsylvania). After hearing that the crab tails were $13/lb. frozen and SHELLED, we decided to order 5 lbs. of the crab and a jar of pickled halibut. Best decision we ever made. They arrived a few weeks after we got home from our cruise and we have been enjoying them ever since. The first time, I made them Scampi style and they were great. Today, I did a Google search and didn’t come up with much except for this page so I decided that will be dinner tonight. They’re marinating now in chili sauce, shallots and garlic and I’m sipping on some pre-dinner sherry and getting the hot coals stoked on the grill. The butter, chili powder and lime juice is slowly heating on the stove. Will serve with some yellow rice and a veggie.
Comment by Mike DeAngelo — October 1, 2011 @ 3:16 pm
my son is a fishermen up in Alaska, he comes home here and there, he brings me shelled King crab. tonight for dinner I was making my famous recipe for King crab chowder, I defrosted a huge bag of his crab he brought me and noticed it was not the normal package, I asked him “what the heck is this” he said mom, it is the tails and is suppose to be pickled, I said I never heard of such a thing, but will not waste his fruits of labor, I will find the way to deal with the full bag I have of them 🙂 bet I am in for a treat, the chowder I made was hundred dollar style for sure
Comment by Judy — January 24, 2014 @ 12:49 am
In the mid-70s I moved to Petersburg Ak. as a teen. The drinking age was 18… I was 17 and no one anywhere asked to see my ID ever. It was kinda heaven for a kid. One of the two Bars at the time was Kito’s Kave and was shared by loggers, fishermen, Coast Guard, and everyone else in town. As a 17-year-old kid, it was the Star Wars bar scene that ironically came out that same year. On the bar at Kito’s, there was a large jar of pickled eggs, and next to it was a jar of pickled crab tails. It’s hard to describe either the taste or texture. I loved them. When they were breeding you could get pickled octopus too, they looked like fairies pressed in a book.
Comment by Brian Bassett — October 29, 2020 @ 5:03 pm