Paddletail Crab Platter

A paddletail crab platter is a common dish in the Looming Desert region of Norrab. Blue paddletail crabs are a staple of the cuisine. The crabs are caught in the hundreds from fast flowing rivers such as the Algol, boiled and decorated on stylish dinner plates.

When serving a paddletail crab platter, grace and decorum is just as important as the food itself. Unfashionable serving utensils and outdated decorations can lead to awkward looks around the dinner table.

A key part of this meal is cracking open the crab as a collective. The crab will be served on a large plate, and everyone around the table will help peel off its shell to reveal the meat inside.

Ingredients

Blue Paddletail Crab Platter by Mochi

Blue paddletail crabs are an easy source of protein due to their abundance and propensity for reproduction. Very few crab farms exist because they reproduce so fast in the wild - it would be a waste of resources, otherwise.

Small sections of fast flowing rivers around the Looming Desert and Sian Lowlands are reserved for wild crab hunting.

Various side dishes are served with paddletail crab. In the Sian Lowlands, rice, garlic, and golden lemons are common. The lemon is used to flavour rice, eaten alongside the crab and garlic.

In the Looming Desert a spicier palette is preferred. Chilli pastes are rubbed into crab meat after being boiled, and a handful of spice powders are mixed into rice.

Cultural Significance

One in three families in Albata, a country in the north of the Looming Desert and bordering the Algol Mountains, reportedly prepare and eat a paddletail crab platter once every two weeks. This statistic has been measured in most countries in Aridara, and results show this meal to be one of the most popular.

It is a meal parents prepare with children as a form of bonding. It teaches children responsibility and multi-tasking, having to manage preparing several small meals at once. 87% of new adults in Aridara know how to prepare a paddletail crab, a statistic on the rise, particularly in recent years.

Paddletail crab platters are a national dish of both Albata and Montava, and was the national dish of Nak'ani until five years ago.

Item type

Consumable, Food / Drink

Related Locations
Algol
Looming Desert
Norrab
Sian Lowlands

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Instructions

Salt and spice water, bring to boil

Boil crab for approx. 30 minutes

Once cooked, place crab in ice water

Remove legs and tail (optional)

Place on dinner plate

While crab is cooking, prepare assortment of side dishes (side dishes vary on the chef)

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