Crabbing on rice at Imperial Palace

Hot damn is all I can say.

Before knowing I'd be chowing down on crab over noodles at Congee Village, I had made plans with XJS to meet up at Imperial Palace for their crab over rice. She had talked about how good it was when we had eaten at Canton Gourmet, and we had finally picked a date to go.

Instead of Dungeness crab, Imperial Palace uses regular blue crabs cut up in quarters and halves.* Once I tasted the rice I found myself barely even bothering with the fussy creatures. In addition to a bed resting on the bottom, the rice had also been packed into the cavities of the crab shells, in perfect position for soaking up their sweet, briny juices. And when I caught a spoonful coated with rich tomalley, the chewy grains filled my mouth with a whole other level of seafood-infused awesomeness.

We had also ordered pan-fried noodles with chicken and sauteed pea shoots, but the rice, for me, was the only star of the show. If I can swing it before I leave, I will totally be back.

*EDIT: XJS thinks it was a Dungeness crab, and now that I'm looking at the photos again I think it was too. Oops!