Here at Thai Ginger, we use Red Rock Crab in our menu items. Whether you’re ordering in for the 4th night or getting yourself to your local seafood market to try your recipes, we hope you learn a thing or two about these two very popular crustaceans. It is the norm in Thai cuisine to use different types of crab especially in the southern part of Thailand, where it is surrounded by the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. If you’re interested in trying both crabs at home, it is recommended to boil Dungeness crabs in salted boiling water while red rock crabs are best cooked in a seasoned broth. Since their size is bigger (fresh), Dungeness crabs are more expensive than their crabby counterparts however, red rock crabs are easier to cook and find. Add the crab, ginger and green onion and stir-fry for 30 more seconds. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 20 seconds, until the garlic is almost golden brown. In both cases, your taste buds are bound to thank you. Pour all but two tablespoons of the oil out of the wok. DungenessĪpart from the obvious size difference, what other ways can you differentiate these crustaceans? Dungeness crabs are described to have a sweet and mild flavor, while you can describe the red rock to be sweet and delicate. Most of this crab’s weight is mostly meat, which makes it the most sought after and is also luckily abundant in numbers. Much bigger than the red rock crab, the Dungeness weighs up to 2 pounds on average. Along with the red rock crab, they’re usually found on the North American west coast and are very popular with northwest chefs. The Dungeness CrabĪlso known as ‘Metacarcinus magister’ by the science world, is red, but with more white patches. The female crabs grow an average of 4-6 inches around the shell while the males push out to 7inches. Smaller bodies mean more difficulty extracting meat from these animals. The pots can weigh up to 150 pounds giving deckhands who handle them quite the workout. The size of the red rock crab makes it less common to buy. Dungeness crabs are caught using pots, which resemble three foot in diameter wire-mesh hockey pucks with two iron weight bars welded to the bottom circular iron frame. while they are small, they are very mean animals and will pinch when approached. These species are native to the North American west coast ranging from Alaska to California. The red rock crab is a household regular, and you guessed it! It looks like a red rock. Here are some ways to tell them apart: The Red Rock Crab The most common are the red rock and Dungeness crabs, quite similar but also very different. There are over 4,500 different crab species, but only a handful make it to our dinner menus. You might be familiar with one or two kinds of crab sold at regular supermarkets, but the crab species is very large. Below, we’ll answer all the questions you have in mind about these types of crab so you can decide what you’ll order tonight. If you’re a fan of seafood and trying new things, then this article is for you.Īre you in the mood for a seafood dish that includes crabs? Which crab types should you try? We suggest trying the Red Rock crab.ĭungeness and red rock crabs are two of the most popular crab types in US restaurants. Talk about a size difference! Plus, Dungeness never tastes “fishy,” a marvel in seafood.What Is the Difference Between Red Rock Crab and Dungeness Crab?Īre you ordering Thai cuisine for the 4th time this week? We’re not judging. Its average size is about 10 feet, 4 pairs of small claws for movement and 1 pair of giant claws for food and defense.
Before you go, make sure you have the proper license (and the proper catch record. Each year, sport fishers catch more than 1.5 million pounds of Dungeness crab, using pots, ring nets, and in the case of wade and dive fishers their bare hands. The legs of this crab are usually shorter than some other sea crabs, and the first pair of claws are not too large. Crabbing is one of Puget Sound’s most popular recreational fisheries. Vary your crab feasts with this West Coast crustacean and celebrate that a 2-pound Dungeness yields ½ pound meat, while the blue crab takes 8 crabs. Dungeness is a crab with a rather special appearance it can weigh up to 2 pounds when fully grown. Both win favor with a sweetness and a robust nuttiness that sets this taste apart from the blue crab that exhibits salty-sweetness with a buttery hint. Dungeness fans claim the body meat is more tender and slightly firmer to the cluster leg meat. With the crab receiving the town’s name, much effort has gone into safeguarding this delicacy and the profound taste. This oval-shaped crab swims on the West Coast and primarily searches out sand spits similar to their claim to fame, the 5-mile spit adjoining the small village named Dungeness along Washington State’s Pacific shoreline.