I'm on a remote island in Fiji and the specialty on this island is coconut crab and it's huge and it looks like a giant muscle man where it's a local delicacy. Oh oh that's a nugget today. We're gonna see the whole process and we are going to try. Fijian Coconut Crab Thank you Hey everyone good morning it's Mark Wiens The ship has just docked.

we are taking a short boat ride over to Juan Cava Island that is coconut crab Island And it's a beautiful morning. It's about 7, 30 a.m and I Cannot wait to try the coconut crab on this special! Island While that water is extremely clear, you can see all the way down to the bottom with the high tide. right now waves laughing, turquoise water. Oh it is incredibly beautiful.

Will you find coconut crabs throughout? Fiji Or is it this is the island of coconut crabs. you find coconut crabs in some parts of Fiji This is one of them here in abundance. so whenever you come to Bangkok you're definitely guaranteed to have coconut crabs in Fiji we call it on this island. Uh, they specialize in the coconut crabs.

As you arrive on the beach, there are some locals from some of the surrounding Villages that sell coconut crabs and they'll cook it right here on spot. So we're about to go see the coconut crabs for the first time. Oh there they are hanging in the tree. so he said typically the coconut crabs they Feast upon coconuts and they live in the coconut trees but sometimes they burrow in the sand so that's the the habitat.

the island habitat. And this island is abundant with coconut crabs so we're just choosing one of the coconut crabs. Wow that shell is incredible. almost like whoa feels like a tortoise shell.

You can feel the how strong and how powerful this crab is. The shell is so strong he's like climbing up the the vine. Whoa he's so strong and the crabs are so beautiful. Blue the colors.

We've chosen our crab and moving over to the kitchen outdoor kitchen here where he is going to gonna cook it. I think they just boil them so he just gives it a quick rinse off in the sea water then directly into the pot of boiling water. How long does the coconut crab cook cook for 15 15 minutes, 15 20 minutes. Okay and it's in.

One of the amazing things that you'll see on the coconut crab is the tail section and that's one of the Delicacies One of the prized parts of eating the coconut crab is that that coconut filled tail that we're gonna try. That's a nice one. Now that the coconut crab is cooked, she's going to use this piece of stick to make the shells up so she can take out all the shells and then she'll place it in a bowl so that you can enjoy. Wow! Okay okay wow.

all the juice is coming out of it. The Milky juices that Claw is Huge! The camera got splattered with the juices but the crab is fully cooked and this is even better. I mean she's going to show us how to eat it and how to crack it open, how to depart it and save the delicacy for the end which is that tail section with the coconut fat when they lift up the shell. But let's try that claw first.

and this is one crab where the claw is secondary to the tail and the body. Look at this claw and not only it's like it's circular. almost. it's huge and musk.

It looks like a giant muscle man I can grab out that whole chunk. Oh oh that's a nugget. Oh wow, this is the flavor of the cookie. Yeah, the flavor of the coconut.

That has to be the fluffiest crab. So stringy and you don't need lemon and chili just yet. The natural flavor is incredible. Yeah it is so sweet.

Oh that's good. Oh that's amazing. I just have to break a piece in my my hands and you have to see how how fine the texture is. I've never had a crab with that fine look at the you know how sometimes it's kind of like huge like a king crab would have.

Huge grains. This is like stringy like angel hair crab and Parker unbelievably fresh. We're gonna move on to dissecting the body. just like coconut cream within the shell, they scrape it up, it just has like coconut fat dripping out of it.

But now they're going to prepare it the local way. where they de-shell the whole crab, take out the meat, take out all of the coconut fat and then you can just enjoy it. This is the sort of like the stomach of the coconut crab so she's just gonna clean the inside. This is where everything that the coconut crab eat together right? So this is the main pattern.

What is that? That's like an intestine? Yeah. Whoa. I've never seen that come out of a whoa. It's like a noodle is coming out of the tail.

Oh it's like pudding. It's coconut pudding on the inside of that tail sloshing around. Oh oh, look at that road coming out. Yeah.

I Don't know. Oh wow, that works fast. The coconut jelly. oh fully loaded in there.

Man when she releases that tail, maybe it's equivalent to the tamale or the the row. They eat a steady diet of coconut so that's just like straight up digested coconut in the Coconut crab. they deshell it for you. Then they put all that body, that tail stomach section in so it's like a pudding like a nugget of the the de-shelled crab scoop it in.

Oh Oh wow, that is the best row ever. It's still complexion flavor. It has a hint of bitterness. really nutty, really sweet.

It literally tastes like enriched coconut cream with nuts. Blended In with fat. Now I know why. That is the ultimate delicacy that just melts in your mouth with such a complex flavor.

Oh, it's so much meat. She was right. She said it doesn't need anything. Totally right.

No seasoning, no extras. The best pudding I've ever had in my life. Oh yes. okay.

that row is something spectacular and I'm gonna put it over rice. They have some rice here next. It's so buttery, it's so oily in your fingers. Oh wow.

it's like a coconut curry. Oh, it's perfect with rice because that spaces out the richness and like oh man, so nutty. It tastes like macadamia nuts and coconut cream and crab all together in one package. But some lime might be really nice and maybe some chilies just for the last just for the bite here.

Andy Oh, that is insane with that little squeeze of citrus that is nice too. that brightens it up the richness. After the coconut crab, it's time for a swim. Oh oh, that feels so good that's still refreshing.

Thank you The swim. The coconut crab was absolutely stunning. This is a paradise. It is so beautiful here from here we're getting back onto the ship and we're gonna go to the next.

Island Foreign all night and we've just arrived to Totoya Island which is still in the Lao Islands group and this island is very famous for their land crabs and so they're going to prepare this delicacy for us land crabs as soon as we introduce ourselves to the community and the village and present ourselves before the chief of the village. Wow! Another gorgeous Village in this. Village Roaming with chickens and lots and lots of coconuts. Actually they have all the coconuts and then they're drying the Coconuts in the sun to make coconut oil foreign and so we have permission we are ready to go see the land crabs.

That's Island life right there. Yes, that is Ultimate Island life. It's customary that when you walk through a village, you don't carry your bag on your back or on your shoulders, but you carry it by the hand. What are they called? Oh okay, later.

nice local from the island. Yeah, okay, these are the local. The local land crabs that they're going to prepare for us fresh from the island so they're just prepping them first and washing them, cleaning them. Oh seagull, you'll boil it first.

Yeah okay. crabs go over the fire to boil and in the meantime they're gonna be. They're making squeezing fresh coconut milk. Always fresh coconut milk in Fiji Thank you! Okay so this is going to be a really special local favorite delicacy of Totoya! Island And I mean they actually went into the coconut trees Inland to hunt for the crab last night when they come out and so they got the crabs and it's really nice that they boil it and then they're completely de-shelling it.

but it's going to be a really fascinating process how they how they prepare it. We're gonna see the next steps now that the the crab is peeled. Foreign. How many crabs is that? this one here? About uh, 15 or 17? Wow.

we already have the fish. Wow. Number five. Nice nice move.

Okay so now you can see why they saved the crab heads the shells because that mixture with the coconut milk with the d-shell crab meat. She added onions and peppers to that and some salt and then it fills back into the head into the shell of the crab. Sunday Foreign: How long How long it will be? Well, not too long. Okay for the cognitive okay and thicken.

Yeah, oh what a process. What a dish. Oh I can't I mean that coconut milk. You can already imagine how it's gonna get so creamy, thicken and rich in and just complement the crab so well.

Vinaca. And as we're waiting for that to cook, it's time for a coconut. Oh that might be the sweetest coconut yet in Fiji Oh, it's so good. Literally picked seconds ago from the backyard and this island is known for their coconuts.

so once once they boil it, it just takes about five minutes. Take it off the fire and the coconut milk has already began to curdle and thicken like a pudding on top of the crab. So we've had coconut crabs and now we're having crab in coconut. It's the ultimate combination.

Coconut and crab. Mud Crabs. Mud crabs today. What was the name of the local dish here? Yes, what a dish.

What a combination. It basically means mud crab meat stuffed in its own shell. Oh is that? So squeeze on that that local lemon juice on top? Oh yes. You want to just keep it as juicy as possible, just accumulate in the head.

Uh, just get some money. Pure crab, onions, curdled coconut cream cheese. Cheers! Um, it's so good. So much mission.

Mission accomplished. Oh man Oh Amazing. Amazing. It's so juicy and so sweet.

Rich from the coconut cream. The onion juice actually like adds a nice little crunch to it because they're just kind of half cooked and then you've got the little bit of chilies in there. It's simple, but it's just the the combination, the freshness, the locality of all the ingredients. But we do need to add some chilies.

Maybe scoop on some of these chilies and keep on keep on eating and rehydrating, filling it up with broth, crab, and coconut broth. Such a incredible luxury to have pre-peeled crab like that. Oh oh wow. Delicious! Bongo Chili's here.

Sweet from that sun. Very nice. Very nice. You know the combination with that crab.

It's so juicy. Hmm what a preparation true and can eat it with the freshly boiled or steamed cassava is so shocked. It goes so well together with the crab with the coconut milk. and then once you get to the bottom you can drink the crab and the Chalice move D the shot of head juice.

Oh with that lemon in there! Oh oh that's wonderful. Thank you Mike Thank you very much Thank you very much thank you very much! That was one of the greatest back-to-back crab meals and I Want to say a huge thank you to Captain Cook Cruises for bringing us to these remote islands in the Lao group of islands in Fiji and for arranging these experiences for everyone who hosted us to my friend. Andy Blake for putting it all together and I'll have their information in the description box below that you can check out. I Want to say a huge thank you to you for watching this video? Please remember to give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it.

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