Tracy Chang makes the case for eating green crabs
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Tracy Chang's sambus contained potato that was cooked in green crab broth. Photo: Steph Solis/Axios
Tracy Chang packed steaming hot sambus into to-go containers one chilly afternoon outside of South Station.
- With every purchase, she touted the secret ingredient in the filling: green crab broth.
Why it matters: It's all part of The Nature Conservancy's plan to enlist the public's help in reducing the region's population of green crab, one of the most invasive species spreading across our waters.
State of play: Chang, a James Beard-nominated chef, partnered with The Nature Conservancy and Greencrab.org earlier this month to share the culinary benefits of the green crab.
- Chang cooks with green crab at PAGU, her Spanish-Japanese tapas restaurant in Cambridge.
Zoom out: European green crabs have been off the coast of Massachusetts for the last century, but their population has exploded in recent years as the region's waters have grown warmer, says Steve Kirk, the conservancy's coastal program director.
- They eat other shellfish, including native crabs and some oysters.
- They also eat eelgrass beds and salt marshes, which are critical in absorbing wave energy and maintaining water quality.
- Commercial seafood dealers last year reported selling 151,126 green crabs.
Between the lines: The green crab may get a bad rap because you can't get much meat from it, Chang tells Axios, but it makes rich stocks that are more flavorful than other crab-based broths.
- At PAGU, she's been using green crabs to flavor ramen broth and curries, especially after exchanging ideas with chefs at the Refugee Food Festival in June.
What they're saying: "What we want to show people is that green crabs are delicious," Chang says.
- Chang cooked a green crab broth with lemongrass, garlic, coconut, cumin, anise and other spices, whipping it with the potato that filled the samu (similar to a samusa or samosa in some countries).
- She added vegetables and wrapped portions in pastries to sell downtown.
Chang also sold raw oysters from Wellfleet, sharing a warning with customers: Eat the green crabs before they eat up all the oysters Massachusetts residents enjoy.
- "In this ecosystem, we've got to do our part and eat both the oysters and the green crabs."