Curacha-ville in Nasugbu by Marketman





I was intrigued several months back when I read about curacha in Joey’s blog, 80breakfasts, here. And she prepared it with Alavar sauce, here. So when someone asked me just weeks ago if I had tried curacha in Batangas, I gave them a befuddled look as I thought the funky crabs were a Zamboanga thing (at least in the Philippines), and they have an Australian relative in the spanner crab that apparently crawls forwards and backwards rather than sideways like other crabs (according to that link provided)… So imagine my surprise when during my first visit to the Nasugbu market during Holy Week, it seemed the market had a MOTHER-LOAD of curacha! Spectacular looking beasts, if you ask me. Somewhat pre-historic in shape and demeanor and already orange in color, even when fresh out of the sea! The sceptic in me asked the first vendor with a pile of curacha if a frozen container-load of the crabs was sent up from Zamboanga, and they looked rather insulted by my query… But when one of my sukis held up one of her curachas, and it was still moving, and hence ALIVE, I was convinced these must be local (though a tinge of doubt set in later since Australia exports a phenomenal amount of this “lower-priced” creatures to Asia, and some crabs can stay alive for quite some time… So apparently there is curacha off the coast of Batangas somewhere (does it really matter how far off the coast?), and last week there were hundreds and hundreds of them in all sizes for sale. I bought one big one just to check it out, but I regret not buying a whole lot more…

Back at home, I was stunned by the beauty of this crab, with its shell, joint and leg patterns that were just too cool, and a bright orange color red to boot. Never having encountered this crustacean fresh before, I was at a loss as to whether I should crack it open and cook it in pieces or cook it whole. I decided to cook it whole with some ginger, onions, garlic, siling mahaba, a touch of broth and salt and pepper. I think I overcooked it a bit as the meat dried out a little, but it was very good nevertheless. The next time I shall steam it until just cooked, then open it up and sauce it. Curacha is unique in that a lot of white meat is concentrated in the body of the crab, and it has very thin claws… For now, it definitely ranks third in my crab line-up behind alimango and alimasag… but I have to experiment with it further. Also, at PHP240 a kilo when all other crabs were in the PHP300ish range, this might turn out to be a cheaper alternative source of crabmeat for crabcakes and crab soups…