Photo: John X. Choe

PLEASE NOTE THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED

When I was a kid my father and brothers used to catch blue claw crabs. Eating them was a fun, but messy process. These days I don’t have much patience for that process, but I do enjoy N.Y. Noodletown’s  salt baked soft shell crabs, and I love munching on the pickled crab in a Thai papaya salad. Believe it or not after more than 30 years of eating Chinese food, I had yet to eat a Dungeness—or donkey as my father used to say—crab until last week. Fresh seafood is a staple of Cantonese cuisine, so what better place to try the giant crustacean than Flushing’s Canton Gourmet.

As you can see from the photo it almost looks like the big guy was smiling. I certainly was once I dug in. The snow white meat was sweet, cool, and plentiful. I’m told that secret of that smile might just lie in the cooking prep; before being boiled our ruddy friend took a luxurious bath in Chinese cooking wine. By the way this photo comes from my good friend, John X. Choe, executive director of the newly launched Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce. Submit your mouth-watering snaps to C+M’s Photo Friday by tagging your  Instagram photos #CMSHUNGRY.