Crab is a winter delicacy in Japan, and when the fishing season opens on November 6th every year, it is a harbinger of winter.
Most Japanese want to go out to eat crab at least once during this season.
The type of crab most commonly eaten is the “snow crab”, and it is caught from the coast facing the sea of Japan. The crabs caught in the coastal areas of the San’in region in Kyoto prefecture are called “Matsuba crabs”, while the crab caught in Fukui prefecture is known as “Echizen crabs”, so that the name of the crab depends on the region where it was caught.
Also, even though it is still the same snow crab, a female crab that has eggs is slightly smaller and called a “red crab”. The crabs caught in various regions are measured for size and firmness, and those that pass strict regulations are known as “brand crabs” and sold with a recognizable brand name tag attached to their legs.
During the crab season from November to March, many hot spring inns serve crab for dinner. But what you should definitely try is a crab full course meal. This is a “crab-filled” course meal uses 1.5 to 2 crabs per person.
From the “crab sashimi”, in which sweet crab legs are eaten raw, to the “grilled crab” in which you can enjoy the savoury flavor of the crab, or “boiled crab” which lets you focus the most on crab’s own natural taste, to “crab hotpot”, a dish in which crab and vegetables are simmered together in a soup stock, or crab porridge made with rice and leftover soup stock from the crab hotpot, the best part of the full-course meal is enjoying crab in a variety of different dishes.
Although it is a bit expensive, a full-course crab dinner is one of Japan’s winter delicacies, and you should be sure to give it a try.