Raw Crab Marinated in Soy Sauce(Ganjang-gejang)

….The Ganjang-gejang that I made was always disappointing, but today I finally got a satisfying taste…..hahaha. Ganjang-gejang is a traditional dish that is made by marinating fresh raw crabs in a mild soy sauce based brine. Ganjang-gejang is eaten with a bowl of rice. Koreans even refer to this dish as a “rice thief” especially in the fall when they are fat and bountiful. One day this month, I got good quality female crabs but my crabs were frozen. Furthermore, none of the crab legs were completely attached. We Koreans prefer female crabs for making Ganjang-gejang. I thaw them out nicely, that fishers froze it as soon as they caught it on the boat in Korea. After thawing, it was still fresh and tasted sweet. So, I made Ganjang-gejang that the whole family likes without hesitation. My sister gave me this recipe for Ganjang-gejang that ANNE likes. My sister is good at cooking everything and I always miss her. By the way, my mother always made Ganjang-gejang with live crabs and she had no problem handling them. The crab infused brine is also delicious mixed with rice or as a sauce for other dishes. It cannot be eaten for a long time, but it is a healing food for the whole family. I need to share and eat for healing. It’s a new joy to receive Korean seafood by a courier service.

Servings: 3–4

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes plus 10 days for aging ganjang-gejang in a refrigerator

Ingredients:

1. 4 crabs, clean with a kitchen brush and pat dry
2. 2500 ml water
3. 30 g hwang-gi(astragalus)
4. 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
5. 15 g kelp
6. 30 g ginger
7. 10 garlic cloves
8. 2 roots of Korean green onion
9. 6 jujube
10. 1 onion
11. 1 apple, cut into half
12. 2–3 bay leaves
13. 10 dried chili pepper
14. 30 g dried anchovy
15. 20 g dried dipoli
16. 2 Ts dried chili pepper seeds
17. 15–20 black pepper corns
18. 300 ml soy sauce
19. 2 Ts plum extract
20. 1 Ts soju
21. 2 Ts soda pop(cider)
22. fresh green pepper and red pepper for garnish
23. sesame seeds for garnish

Cooking Instructions:

1. Heat a big pot with high heat and add the water, hwang-gi, dried shiitake mushrooms, kelp, ginger, garlic cloves, roots of Korean green onion, jujube, onion, apple, bay leaves, and dried chili pepper into the pot to boil them for 30 minutes with a lid.

2. After 30 minutes, heat down to low heat to keep boiling for 30–40 minutes with the lid.

3. After 30minutes, add the dried anchovy, dried dipoli, dried chili pepper seeds, and pepper corns(make a pack) into the pot to boil them for 20 minutes without the lid.

4. After 20 minutes, take out the pack and add the soy sauce into the pot.

5. Turn off the heat and add the plum extract, soju, and cider into the pot.

6. Sift the broth with a strainer and cool down completely for 4–5 hours.

7. Put the crab in a container(put the stomach up).

8. Pour the cold soy sauce into the container until the crabs are fully submerged in soy sauce. Store it in a refrigerator for 3–4 days.

9. After 3–4 days, Transfer the soy sauce of ganjang-gejang into a pot to boil for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool down(keep the crab in a refrigerator while cooling down the soy sauce).

10. After cooling down, put the soy sauce into the crab(ganjang-gejang).

11. Eat this after storing in the refrigerator for 7–10 days. After 7–10 days, Split the shell of a crab and cut into one bite size(remove some fins and sandbag inside). Serve it with garnishes and a bowl of rice(be sure to leave a spoon or two of rice to mix with roe(egg) and tomalley in the top shell).

You can also view this recipe on instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXJeiSoJfNr/