Seafood ── Shellfish and cephalopods
Kegani
the short-legged crab whose shell bristles hint at rich innards
A compact crab whose shell is covered in short bristles. Its real appeal is not the leg meat but the dense, rich innards packed under the shell, in season winter through spring, usually just boiled plain.
- Shrimp and crab
What it's made of
Run a finger over the shell and short bristles cover every inch of it, a texture no other crab quite has. The leg meat is modest, but the real point is the dense, rich innards packed under the shell, which spill out the moment it's cracked open. The leg flesh itself is delicate and mildly sweet, and pairs well with the stronger flavor of the innards, which end up as the real star rather than the legs.
How it's made
It's mainly caught in pots or gillnets set along the Okhotsk Sea coast, working relatively close to shore. Once landed, it's usually boiled quickly to preserve freshness, plain and unseasoned, and eaten that way with no further dressing. Fishing peaks in winter through spring, when both the meat and the innards are said to fill out best, and its thin, easily cracked shell makes it manageable even in a home kitchen.
Why it took this shape
It lives on the seafloor along the cold Okhotsk coast, and that cold water is thought to firm up the meat and concentrate the richness of its innards. Smaller-bodied than the large crabs it's often compared to, it carries a higher ratio of innards to shell, which may be why eating it centers on the innards rather than the legs. Its palm-sized build is also part of why it turns up so readily on home tables.
Before You Go
- How to shop at a supermarketHow to choose prepared foods, sashimi, and packaged sushi, when discount stickers tend to appear, region-only specialties, buying by weight, the checkout and bagging flow, and sampling etiquette at a local supermarket.
- Roadside stations, direct-sale stands, and marketsHow to enjoy buying food near where it's produced, visiting and shopping at morning markets and fish markets, what to expect at farm stands, and finding local food at roadside stations (michi-no-eki).
- Foods to look for in winterA guide to foods often seen in Japan around winter — nabe hot pot, fugu, oysters, crab, year-end soba, and osechi — with rough pointers for finding them.
Dishes in the same style
- AmaebiFormally the northern shrimp, it lives in cold water 200-700m deep. Raw, it carries a pronounced sweetness and a melting texture, which gives it this everyday name. Sold year-round for sashimi and sushi.
- Botan EbiA large shrimp said to be named for the peony-like red markings on its shell. Prized for a sticky, dense texture and strong sweetness, most often eaten raw as sashimi or sushi.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Known source
- Known source: Hokkaido, Wakkanai
Landed around Hokkaido, especially along the Okhotsk Sea coast.
Contrast
- ZuwaiganiThe signature winter crab of the Sea of Japan coast. Its flesh is delicately sweet and flakes easily, with rich roe whether boiled or grilled. The same species is tagged and named differently at each port, so the landing site becomes the brand.
- HanasakiganiDark brown while alive, it is said to take its name from turning flower-bright red once boiled. Beneath its thick, spiny shell sits substantial meat and rich roe.
- WatariganiNamed for its paddle-shaped hind legs, an able swimmer. Prized for the rich roe under its shell and the broth it releases when simmered whole, used in soup or pasta alike, in season autumn through winter.