Dungeness Crab Boil

On Sat Dec 20, I had a crab boil at Donna's Alameda house. I think Dungeness is a real Pacific Ocean treat, succulent, affordable, easy to prepare and not overfished. It's rated best choice by every seafood watch (crustaceans are generally doing well, perhaps are even benefiting from the overfishing of other species).

I was going to buy 25 crab for the boil, but unfortunately it was $5/lb that day in Oakland Chinatown (had been hoping for around $3, as it often is when the catch is good), so I settled for 17. However, Atlantic lobster is experiencing a glut (see below) and so was only $6 ($10 is more typical) so I bought 6 of those.

San Francisco, California

I stayed in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf last night. Yeah, it's a tourist trap, so I won't say much about it.

The Boudin Bakery at the wharf does make sourdough loaves in the shape of Dungeness crabs which I find quite amusing, since I am crazy about the little buggers. The recent oil spill in the SF Bay threatened the local crab harvest for a while.

I also had dim sum at Yang Sing in
Rincon Center, which is historic downtown Art Deco building cum food court. The center has some Diego's Rivera-esque murals, though as a culinary blogger, I do have to nitpick the Atlantic lobster shown under the Golden Gate bridge. :)