Calling this "King" crab, in my opinion, could not be more perfect. While the name is probably derived from the enormous size of these animals, it works in my mind because this is the best tasting ocean crustacean that money can buy. The meat is rich and sweet. And with the amount of work that goes along with eating any type of crab, the reward with king crab is the greatest with chunks of meat the size of hot dogs. I'd also like to note that I'm a huge fan of The Deadliest Catch on the Discovery channel. Knowing what those guys go through to catch this stuff just makes it taste that much sweeter.
King crab is caught and processed at sea usually within the span of a week. They are quickly steam-cooked and then flash frozen before being packed and shipped all over the world. If the crab dies before processing it releases a harmful chemical and is therefore not fit to eat. This is why you will only find this stuff frozen. But before you turn your nose up at this fact, consider that most, if not all, of the fish served as sushi in this country is frozen and thawed before you eat it.
The first thing I did was thaw the king crab and remove the meat from the shell. I cut it into two inch pieces. I took about 4 ears of corn and removed the kernels for other uses. I placed the cobs in a large stock pot, filled it all the way to the top with water and placed it on the stove set at high heat. I brought the pot up to a boil, lowered the heat and simmered the cobs until about a quart of liquid remained. I strained the corn stock and placed it in a small stock pot. I brought it back up to a boil before pouring it onto some bloomed gelatin and stirring to dissolve the solids. I poured the corn gelatin into plastic-wrap lined molds and floated the king crab pieces in it. I placed the molds in the fridge to set the gelee.
Once set, I removed the bricks of gelee and trimmed them into uniform rectangles. On top of the gelee I carefully placed anise hyssop leaves and flowers, lemon verbena leaves, cockscomb leaves and flowers and pea leaves and tendrils.
The butter powder was made by whisking softened sweet cream butter with tapioca maltodextrin. Maltodextrin has the ability to turn fats and certain thick liquids (honey or syrup) into powders. It doesn't interfere with the flavor of what you mix it with and when eaten in melts into it's previous state. I then stirred in little bit of salt before spooning the powder onto the plate. When I ate this I made the comment that it tasted like Labor Day weekend.
Products:
Organic Sweet Corn - Culton Organics
Organic Lemon Verbena - My Garden
Organic Pea Shoots - Queen's Farm
Organic Anise Hyssop - My
King crab is caught and processed at sea usually within the span of a week. They are quickly steam-cooked and then flash frozen before being packed and shipped all over the world. If the crab dies before processing it releases a harmful chemical and is therefore not fit to eat. This is why you will only find this stuff frozen. But before you turn your nose up at this fact, consider that most, if not all, of the fish served as sushi in this country is frozen and thawed before you eat it.
The first thing I did was thaw the king crab and remove the meat from the shell. I cut it into two inch pieces. I took about 4 ears of corn and removed the kernels for other uses. I placed the cobs in a large stock pot, filled it all the way to the top with water and placed it on the stove set at high heat. I brought the pot up to a boil, lowered the heat and simmered the cobs until about a quart of liquid remained. I strained the corn stock and placed it in a small stock pot. I brought it back up to a boil before pouring it onto some bloomed gelatin and stirring to dissolve the solids. I poured the corn gelatin into plastic-wrap lined molds and floated the king crab pieces in it. I placed the molds in the fridge to set the gelee.
Once set, I removed the bricks of gelee and trimmed them into uniform rectangles. On top of the gelee I carefully placed anise hyssop leaves and flowers, lemon verbena leaves, cockscomb leaves and flowers and pea leaves and tendrils.
The butter powder was made by whisking softened sweet cream butter with tapioca maltodextrin. Maltodextrin has the ability to turn fats and certain thick liquids (honey or syrup) into powders. It doesn't interfere with the flavor of what you mix it with and when eaten in melts into it's previous state. I then stirred in little bit of salt before spooning the powder onto the plate. When I ate this I made the comment that it tasted like Labor Day weekend.
Products:
Organic Sweet Corn - Culton Organics
Organic Lemon Verbena - My Garden
Organic Pea Shoots - Queen's Farm
Organic Anise Hyssop - My