This is an unusual dish made with the eggs of the horse shoe crab, often served inside the shell of the horse shoe crab (as pictured below). Horse shoe crab is one of those foods, like puffer fish, where you have to be careful how you prepare it because most of the crab is poisonous. The eggs are the only bit of a horse shoe crab you can actually eat.
Horse Shoe Crab SaladAbout Horse Shoe Crab
Horse shoe crab has been eaten all Asia for a long time. It is considered an aphrodisiac in may countries. Interestingly enough a horse shoe crab isn’t actually a crab at all, it is in fact a pre-historic sea creature more closely related to scorpions and a species of creature in its own right. On the basis of fossil discoveries scientists believe this peculiar creature has been around for literally millions of years.
Horse Shoe Crab has blue blood
Another strange thing about the horse shoe ‘crab’ is that its blood is blue and extremely rich in copper. The crab has been used extensively in ancient and modern medicine. The horse shoe crab has been central to the development of the flu vaccine and, oddly enough, in the study of human eyes and cures to optical conditions.
Very tasty
It seems a shame to eat this pre-historic wonder creature, except it is very very tasty. It is normally served in a salad containing green mango, shallots, cashew nuts, fresh chilli, fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar. Horse shoe crab eggs are not over-powering but they have an unusual flavour which is pleasantly fishy. If you want to try the full range of Thai cuisine, then you need to try this dish. It is popular, if a bit hard to get hold of sometimes.