Korean

Gejang

Name: Gejang
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: 1 live female blue crab; 80 ml soy sauce; 80 ml water; 1 tbsp soju; 1 tbsp dark brown sugar; 3 g dried kelp; 3 cloves garlic; 10 g fresh ginger; 40 g onion; 40 g Korean pear or apple; 1 dried red chilli; 0.5 tsp black peppercorns; 1 spring onion; 1 green chilli; 0.5 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Ganjang gejang — raw blue crab cured in a cooled, aromatic soy brine until the flesh turns silky and the roe sweet. A single crab, brined twice over three days in the fridge, eaten cold with hot rice.

Lunch & dinner Under 400 kcal

40 min25 prep · 15 cookMedium247 kcalper serving

Method

Put 1 live female blue crab into the freezer for 1 hour to sedate it — this keeps the legs and roe intact. A hard shell with a broad, rounded apron and a heavy feel means good roe.
Scrub the crab all over with a stiff brush under cold running water, working between the legs and around the mouth, then rinse and stand it upside down in a colander for 15 minutes to drain thoroughly. Do not remove the shell — the crab is brined whole.
In a small saucepan put 80 ml soy sauce, 80 ml water, 1 tbsp soju, 1 tbsp dark brown sugar, 3 g dried kelp, 3 cloves garlic, 10 g sliced ginger, 40 g sliced onion, 40 g sliced pear, 1 dried red chilli, 0.5 tsp black peppercorns and 1 spring onion, cut in half. Bring to the boil over medium heat, lift out the kelp after 5 minutes so it does not turn slimy, then simmer gently 10 minutes.
Strain the brine into a bowl, discarding the aromatics, and cool it completely — to room temperature, then in the fridge. Pouring warm brine onto raw crab cooks the surface and ruins the texture, so it must be cold.