← All places

Dish guide · Seafood

🦀

Ganjang-gejang

간장게장

Soy-marinated raw crab

🧊 Served cold🙂 Not spicy🥬 Not vegetarian

Raw crab cured in a soy-based brine until silky and savory. It's nicknamed bap-doduk, the "rice thief", because it makes you eat so much rice.

What it is

  • The crab is eaten raw, not cooked. Yangnyeom-gejang is the spicy marinated cousin.
  • It's usually sold as a meal with rice and side dishes, and it's priced by the crab.

How to eat it

  1. 1Squeeze the meat out of the shell, then mix rice into the empty top shell with the crab's rich insides. Roasted seaweed is good for wrapping a bite.

History

  • Crab cured in soy sauce was an everyday way of keeping it. The name ganjang-gejang spread after spicy yangnyeom-gejang became popular in the 1980s.

Allergies and diet

Usually contains

shellfishsoywheat
  • The crab is raw. Food safety agencies warn that bacteria can survive the soy marinade, so people who are pregnant, elderly or have weak immune systems should avoid it.
  • Crab is a major allergen.

Recipes differ between restaurants. If you have an allergy, always ask the staff before you order.

🗣️ Allergy card for the staff

Pick your allergy to see the sentence in Korean.

📍 Where to try it

Sources

We check every fact against at least two sources and write it in our own words. Last checked: 2026-10-31.