OH Crab(p)!

Most flower crabs aka blue swimming crab(Portunus pelagicus) sold in Malaysia hypermarkets & supermarkets are frozen defrost seafood. Yup, they come in 10kg/carton box! They will claim that it is fresh but in actual fact they’re taken out from the freezer, defrost and viola -> on the ice-bed ready to be sold. Fresh flower crabs are still available at a slightly more premium price and usually found in wet market.

Male flower crabs have blue marking on their shell and the females are dull green. Most flower crab sold here are imported from India, Indonesia and Pakistan. Newly moulted flower crabs are being used to make the popular soft shell crab.

So, how do you tell a frozen crab from fresh crab so you’ll not get rip-off during ur next wet market visit? Easy -> just knock on the shell and the answer shall be revealed to you! J Hehe.. well actually there’s a simple check that you can do, look at the tentacles that’s sticking out from the front of the shell. For fresh crab, they should be intact and flexible to the touch. Where else for frozen crab, the tentacles are most likely damaged during the freezing process thus either broken or missing.

There, a simple seafood buying tip courtesy from your daily wat-te-ver moments!