Kani Miso - information on preparation and presentation?

[Bret Truchan]

Lately I've had a fascination with kani miso.  It's something that I ate at Charcoal Grill Anko a year or two ago.  On the English menu, it was called "Crab Brains", which I believe to be pretty accurate.  I noticed that there were no other crab dishes on the menu, so I asked, "Where is the rest of the crab?"  The waiter replied, "We only have the brains."

 

More recently, I found Kani Miso at Nijiya Market in San Francisco.  And just yesterday, I had it served on the side of a salad in Tokyo.  (I'm on vacation here right now.)

 

My questions are:

 

1. How does one extract kani miso from the crab?  Are there instructions online?  I've heard that there are some parts to avoid, obviously the gills - but I'd like to learn more.

 

2. What are the various ways of serving kani miso?

 

3. Are there any ingredients that are typically mixed with kani miso?  For example, perhaps yuzu or yuzu kosho?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Cheers,

Bret

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

Did you read this, from Serious Eats?

Edited to add that if you procure crabs from recreational fishermen on the West Coast, make sure they didn't come from a fishery closed due to the biotoxin domoic acid as it tends to be concentrated in the internal organs. 

Edited March 20, 2017 by blue_dolphin (log)