The snow crab season opened on 6 November in Japan and runs through 20 March, but this week, with cold weather setting in and supply catching up with demand, consumers are beginning to sink their teeth in the tasty crustaceans.
Along with Pacific saury and matsutake mushrooms, snow crabs are a representative fall food in Japan. Television stations in Japan featured celebrities sampling highest-grade crab live from the Sea of Japan sold at astronomical prices. But, for savvy consumers, more reasonable deals are to be found.
For example, Marumasa-brand bairdi snow crab legs are being sold at JPY 3,000 (USD 26.45, EUR 23.29) per kiligram at Hounan market in the Shonai market arcade in Toyonaka City near Osaka.
“This type is sweeter than regular snow crab,” the shop’s staff member told SeafoodSource.
This should be good news for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI), which made an effort back in 2015 to educate the Japanese trade on differences between bairdi and opillio snow crab, with the goal of getting a premium for the bairdi. While the species Chionoecetes opilio occurs in both the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, including Japanese waters, Chionoecetes bairdi (also called “tanner crab”) is restricted to the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. “Succulent sweetness” is a phrase often used to describe the taste of bairdi.
For domestic product, there is a substantial price difference between male and female crabs. The females are called “seko-gani” (gani, or kani, means “crab”). One 200-gram crab was offered in the market for JPY 850 (USD 7.49, EUR 6.60). However, a better deal – JPY 600 (USD 5.29, EUR 4.66) for a similar sized female crab – could be found at a local supermarket (additionally marked down 20 percent later in the day). Another shop retailed a set of two whole, boiled seko-gani for JPY 980 (USD 864, EUR 7.61). Such small crabs are often used in nabe (hotpot) or they are picked and the legs and body with any remaining meat are used to make broth for miso soup.
Matsuba-gani (adult males), were sold at retail for JPY 3000 (USD 26.45, EUR 23.29) for a 700-gram crab.
