Yangnyeom Gejang (Spicy Marinated Crab)
A spicy-sweet rice-stealer of a side dish: fresh blue crab tossed in a chili marinade and left to cure. Unlike soy-sauce gejang, where you boil and pour a brine, here you just mix a gochugaru sauce and coat the crab — far simpler. After about two days in the fridge the marinade soaks deep into the meat and it tastes its best.
Ingredients
Main
- Blue crab4 (large)
- Onion2
- Cheongyang chili3
Sauce·Seasoning
- Red pepper flakes (gochugaru)3 tbsp
- Soy sauce3 tbsp
- Corn syrup2 tbsp
- Cooking wine1/2 tbsp
- Minced garlic1/2 tbsp
- Minced ginger1 tbsp
- Grated onion1 (medium)
- Maesil (green plum) syrup1/2 tbsp
- Toasted sesame seedsA little
Directions
- 1
Scrub the crabs all over with a brush and rinse clean under cold running water. If using frozen crabs, handle them while still half-frozen.
- 2
Drain the crabs, cut each in half, and snip off the round tip of the last leg with scissors.
- 3
Set the cleaned crabs aside to drain a little more while you make the sauce.
- 4
Blend the soy sauce, cooking wine, grated onion, minced garlic, and minced ginger until smooth, then mix in the gochugaru, corn syrup, and maesil syrup until evenly combined.
- 5
Let the sauce rest at room temperature for about 15 minutes so the gochugaru swells and the flavors meld. A smooth, not-too-thick consistency is best. Taste and adjust with soy sauce or corn syrup; keep it slightly on the salty side, since the crab will dilute it.
- 6
Cut 2 onions and 3 Cheongyang chilies into bite-size pieces and stir them into the sauce. Add plenty for a nice crunchy bite.
- 7
Add the cleaned crabs and toss with a ladle so the sauce coats them evenly. Watch out for the claws. As it cures, the sauce naturally soaks in.
- 8
Transfer to a container, sprinkle generously with sesame seeds, and it's done. Leave at room temperature for about an hour, then refrigerate; after two days the crab's umami comes through and it tastes its best.
Tips
For live crabs, freeze them for about an hour so they are lightly frozen before mixing; for frozen crabs, clean them well and mix while still frozen. Using bright-colored Cheongyang gochugaru makes it look even more appetizing.