Eat Drink Style The Boiling Crab, Alhambra - Redux

On Sunday night, my new family and I sat back in our seats in relief and satisfaction. We were at Boiling Crab, and examined the aftermath of our seafood genocide. Our hands sticky with sauce and spices; the outer edges of our lips slightly burnt from the slight heat. On a large piece of white butcher paper lay the remains of the insects of the sea. Shrimp completely stripped of its natural clothing, crab shell pieces smashed like a car in an accident and tiny crawfish severed at the midpoint. It was in fact, a battle scene the insects of the sea had no chance of winning. But they were doomed to begin with the second they entered The Boiling Crab in Alhambra. These guys are either boiled, steamed or deep fried. From there, they are lathered in your choice of sauce – the whole garlicky, lemony, spiceful, buttery sha-bang in our case. And finally, tossed into a plastic bag and shaken up till they are painted a new color. Oysters, catfish, gumbo – are also on the menu but not what they are known for.

When we first opened the bag, you couldn't see much but orange objects, yellow corn and brown sausage slices. But the smell, man... I suddenly remembered what a lovely ingredient garlic is. Name one thing with butter, garlic, wine and spices that tastes bad – sans the whole Olive Garden menu. I reached in first to grab my first shrimp. I removed the head and went straight for the brain, the sweetest part of the bugger in my opinion. Then I cleaned off all the sauce on its arthropodic body. And after removing the shell, I took that shrimp back to Garlicville for a night on the town. Damn. That. Was. Tasty. We looked at each other and nodded – oil all over our hands and mouth.

When the waitress cleaned up our table and handed us the bill, I had to ask:

Me: "Do you sell this sauce?"
BC: "No."
Me: "You should bottle it up and sell it."
BC: "Yeah. Just come back again!"
Me: "I know. But for now, may I have two plastic bags please?"

Like my mom from Hong Kong would do or Asian for that matter haha, I dumped all that sauce back into plastic bags. I do not usually do this, but I have finally found an exception. Even at one point, extending my arms up so that I can push out all the sauce from the large bags. Jeni's mom laughed. But I didn't, I had serious game face on. I don't joke around when it comes to sauce like this. Afterwards, we quickly went to 99 Ranch to buy a pound of shrimp. I went home and threw them right into the Boiling Crab marinade. I swore I hear the shrimp scream, "Yayyyyyyyyyyyy" – they continued to scream and cheer until I tied up the bag.

The next day, all I could think about was my shrimp. I brushed my teeth twice, but I still smelled 'Le Cologne de Garlique'. I would look at the time and countdown. Ok, 4 more hours till it's on. Almost time for Boiling Crab Redux.

I even bought some fresh corn and found some Trader Joe's chicken sausages – threw them into the sauce party. There was major happiness going on in there.

I threw maybe 8-10 scoops of garlic sauce onto the sausages and corn but reserved the rest for the main event. Versus boiling the shrimp, I decided to take it to another level by doing it Hawaiian style. I cooked the shrimp no longer than 4-5 minutes total since they were so large. My only complaint with BC is that the shrimp were overcooked. But that's ok, the sauce more than made up for it. These shrimp tasted awesome and I think the shrimp trucks of Hawaii or Uncle Moki's might have something to aspire to now. Boiling crab, thank you. And thanks for reading.

The Boiling Crab
742 W. Valley Blvd.
Alhambra, CA 91803
(626) 576-9368
www.theboilingcrab.com

A review of the Garden Grove, OC location by super-foodie & poet, Elmomonster.