Why does anyone eat Alaskan king crab in New Orleans, since the local crabmeat is so much better? Good question. It probably has to do with its exotic qauality. And the fact that when it's in season and fresh, it is much better than the frozen product that shows up on boofays in casinos. Taste that, and you understand how king crab came to be famous. It's sweet, full of the flavor of the sea, and wonderful, eaten with just a little drawn butter, or nothing at all. Fresh, quality Alaskan king crab shows up only sporadically, when the fishing boats are active in the winter. There are three varieties--red, golden, and blue, with red being the best. But we're lucky to get fresh king crab at all. The population crashed in the 1980s, and it's been hard to find since. A few restaurants--Notably GW Fins and Lilette--still get good king crab when it's available. Enjoy it while it's there, and get ready for a price much higher than you remember from when you first learned to eat it, in those cheapo steakhouses in the 1980s. Unacceptable Alternative. Snow crab legs have filled the gap left by Alaskan king crab in the aforementioned low-end steak joints and casino buffets. Snow crab is only very distantly related to king crab, and tastes nothing like it. It doesn't taste like much at all, in fact.
