Dungeness Crab

Read about a market that was unique to Portland and decided to check it out the other day. City Market was like Wild Oats on steroids.



Wow. They had 7-8 types of fresh oysters alone (ranging from $7.99 to $12.99/dozen). Not to mention the Dungeness crab that you could buy (alive or cooked, for $3.99/lb; cracked for $4.99 or the picked meat for $21.99). I bought two live crabs that weighed a total of 5 lbs. And they were the medium sized ones. Wow. They were none too happy about being put in a bag so I had them add ice to slow those suckers down. Even on the way home you could hear them crawling around in the giant bag. Yikes. Plopped them in boiling salted water for 18 minutes (per the recommendation of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission) and we ate them straight from the shell, no butter or utensils. Yum.

I've only had them once before (shipped to the east coast) and I didn't care for them. I found them bland and not well textured. I much preferred the blue crabs from Maryland, served with tons of old bay and lots of draught beer. I am so happy that I tried them again, because they were so good. Taste like a better flavored and textured lobster. Amazing. Drank them with beer, but they could have been easily paired with a glass of wine. Wow. I am very impressed. I can't wait to get some more before the season ends.

For those of you that want to see more pictures of City Market's produce, cheese, pasta and meat selections, check out this foodie's website.