Comments on: Alimasag / Blue Crabs

By: GenerSumilang

GenerSumilang — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 06:39:49 +0000

Alimasag is abundant too in the middle east,and they are big in sizes.We dont eat alimasag there if its not newly catch! day or night, we catch them anywhere in the beaches,sometimes, you needed only few minutes to fill a huge basket. you should bring gloves to avoid those dangerous claws too! we simply steam it or ginataan with some veges like pumpkin and sitaw,wow! nice to eat with minimal chilis on it..

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:47:55 +0000

Where can I buy Soft Shell Crabs in Manila?

By: Kentoy

Kentoy — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:40:44 +0000

Everything here sounds good and delicious, I am from Caraga Region, Mindanao, Philippines. We deliver Sea Mantis, Crabs and tiger lobsters with low prices. Contact us for
more information. tnx,

By: benchorizo

benchorizo — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 04:28:38 +0000

You can buy pasteurized crab meat by Philip’s, MADE IN THE PHILIPPINES, from Costco. They’re not that bad considering that they’re canned. I use them to make crab cakes.

By: Ted

Ted — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:08:42 +0000

It’s logical to position the crabs on their back when steaming them, otherwise they can crawl out of the pot if they are still alive ;-)

By: jaybee

jaybee — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 02:05:06 +0000

may i suggest that when steaming the crab, position them in the pot in such a way that they lie on their back. that way, the juice oozing from the top crabs penetrates the body of the crabs beneath. The other position will just make the juices flow over their shell. hope this makes sense.

By: Joey

Joey — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:27:50 +0000

The best crab recipe EVER? Thahn Long Crab of San Francisco. Saaaaraaaaap graaaaabeeeee! Heavenly oily/buttery, garlicky, peppery… Mahal nga lang- I spent about $60 per person for the meal which included their famous garlic noodles. They use dungeness crabs though which is inferior to our alimango. Had a local version done (special order/arrangement- not in the menu) in BF P’que’s Las Paellas a few months ago and it was so good I forgot I had company and did not talk until I was done with the huge alimango.

Thanks MM for consistently whetting our appetites!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:51:55 +0000

I went to Binondo last week and stumbled upon a seafood dealer along Soler Street. They had all kind of seafood, from huge lobsters and slipper lobsters to alimango and alimasag. The alimasag seemed to be brighter in color to the ones commonly seen in markets. I didn’t buy anything since the prices were way too high – P2,500 per kilo for the lobster and P500 for the alimango. I guess you have to be Chinese to be able to get a discount.

By: skunkeye

skunkeye — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:45:46 +0000

They should call it Philipp-INES crabhouse! I have wonderful memories of going to the Philips restaurant on DC’s waterfront as kid – putting on a tie and jacket – the quality has declined signifacantly since then… the one on the harbor here is a tourist factory – all you can eat buffets and the like – not memorable food…you’re right there are differences bewteen the South East Asia blue crab and the Chespeake Bay variety but it does the trick for the canned and packaged goods I guess. My father visited the Bantayan farm actually years ago… I just hope the Philippines bklue crabs avoide getting over-fished. Local/Baltimore crab cakes are hit or miss – a lot of it is filler – but seems to be the thing to eat here. I myself prefer soft-shell crabs – especially the ones from the Tidewater VA/NC area where my family has a beach home. Better yet, I’d love to be in the Philippines eating blue crab. thank you for the great site!!!
By teh way, I tried my hand on making puto for houseguests – I used the packaged mix but added a few of my own North American twists – brown sugar,and topped them with dried cranberry and mint from my garden… not the real thing but very nice…

By: Marketman

Marketman — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:15:31 +0000

skunkeye, funny you should mention the crab/maryland connection. It seems Philipps, one of the largest crabhouses in Baltimore, has a picking, packing and freezing/canning plant in Northern Cebu, near Bantayan. The crab meat is steamed, picked and packed in cans or frozen… I thought primarily for the Japanese market… but it turns out a lot of it is exported to the U.S. so yes, a lot of the meat in those chowders and possibly even the crab cakes are processed here! And the blue crabs are similar but not esactly the same… in the same way the typical native of Baltimore is human like a native of Mactan, but in many ways, are world’s apart… :) Thanks for the article! Joey, I have rarely seen any live alimasag at all, sometimes at Seaside in Baclaran. nina, yes, a quick boil works too, but I find some of the flavor excapes from the crab, that’s why I prefer to steam them over, not in the water. Apicio, I absolutely ADORE soft shell crabs… and once did a drive down the Maryland coast to a small restaurant and crab consolidator that had pens of crabs out back and when you ordered a soft shell crab, they would go out back and pick one and cook it for you… it was the best soft shell crab meal I have ever had… and that was perhaps 25+ years ago!