Huge MARTIAN Crab!!

- Hello everyone. I hope you're having an amazing day. It's Mark Wiens. I am in Tijuana, Baja, California, Mexico. And today we are driving from Tijuana to Ensenada. And there are a couple of stops we will make along the way. A couple of stops to eat. One is for meat, but the main goal today is for us to go to a place where they have, they have kept for us, a Pacific spider

crab

, hopefully a giant spider

crab

. And we are going to eat a lot of delicious seafood, especially crab. (Mexican dance music) (foreign language spoken) So we're still in Tijuana right before we start driving.

We're having a quick little seafood breakfast, at this stand, right here. And they specialize in several different things, especially Tostadas, which is seasonal, seasonal seafood. (speaking a foreign language) Awesome. I can not wait. (soft Mexican music) - For you (speaking foreign language) - Here it is. This Toast is amazing. You put a little mayonnaise on the bottom, the crab, onion, salt and pepper, avocado and a little sauce on top. Is incredible. It's so fresh and juicy, nothing overwhelming. Oh, the lime juice in there. The salt and pepper, the creamy avocado, the pickled onions, spectacular, spectacular. That's delighting my tastebuds for morning breakfast right now. (soft Mexican music) - Incredible - That crab is almost milky.

Oh! It was impressive. (clams crashing) (speaking a foreign language) - Do you want one? The cocktail with... - Oh, the cocktail with clams? - This is a famous clam and oyster cocktail, and is famous for being great for curing hangovers. Legendary. - Legendary. Right after we eat that Tostada, the Crab Toast, we're ordering a cocktail and it's a live station, he's making it in front of us. Shelling some, I think, some giant clams, and now some oysters, and cutting them up into little pieces, and then we'll see what he does next. (clams cracking) - Indefinitely. - Indefinitely (laughs) (soft Mexican music) (speaks foreign language) He literally hands it to you in a chalice.

Look at the place, it's almost the size of my head, but live, I mean, he cut the oysters and clams fresh. And then in the glass, in the chalice, there were already the cucumbers, the tomatoes, maybe some onions, there they put their seafood. And on top, a little salt and pepper, and then avocado on top. That is wonderful. (speaking a foreign language) Add any of this? - Yes. - Everyone will enter. (Speaking foreign language) It will really bring them back to life - That's the fattest oyster I've ever put in my mouth. (laughs) - The seafood is brilliant.

The onions, their freshness, with something like this it has to be fresh, there is no compromise. Nothing to hide it. It's just that it's the best seafood cocktail you could ever ask for. (Car engine roar) The lime, the little bit of chili, the onion, the pepper there. Everything comes together in beautiful harmony. And I love the contrast of textures with similar things, like slimy seafood and the crunch of cucumber and onion. (scratching spoon) We're on our way walking to the truck. But one more dish we had to try. This is it (speaking a foreign language): it is water, water with chili.

And I think in this case they are using the Chilean date (speaking in a foreign language) from Sonora. Sprinkle some chili in there. The chili water is incredible with the avocado cream. You can taste dried and smoked chiles. And then, just as the seeds float, you notice that the rush would have only been cooked with acid, similar to (speaking in a foreign language), only cooked with lime acid. Wow, that's extraordinary. (Mexican dance music) (foreign language speaking) Marko, let's look at that real quick. (speaking foreign language) - I love it - Okay (Speaking foreign language) - Okay, we have to move. - Corn cake, Mika will love it. - Thank you.

Corn cake (laughs) - Very good, and we look good for Popotla. And Popotla is where the... - Is the crab? - Marsiannos yes - They are called Martians. - The main mission is to Popotla in search of the giant spider crab, - Called Martians - Called Martians - From another planet. - If they are. - They're

huge

there. I have a photo of my three year old son holding one, it was about the size of his body. - Size of a three-year-old child? (laughs) But there is one more. There is a stop we have to make.

I mean, it would suck to miss this because it's on the way, right? - Yes, you can't pass it. - It's not seafood, is it? -No, he is steak. (laughs) - Type of tacos called Mark. And I noticed that they didn't have this taco in Mexico City, because it's kind of a regional taco from here in Sonora. It's called a Peroni taco and it's a big taco and a big flour tortilla with a lot of air. Certa, steak, guacamole, onion and a good sauce. (Mexican dance music) - We are somewhere in between, I think there are about 20 of us, it took us about 20 minutes to get here from Tijuana.

And this small town puts Carnesada on the map of Baja, California. and yakui (burnt meat) has tacos. A fresh batch of meat is being roasted. I think they are burning Maski and he is stoking that fire, very hot. You can smell the aroma of that firewood burning. And he just put a whole layer that covered the entire grill. They're like beef blankets. (burn meat) (chop cooked meat) So (speaking a foreign language) he goes straight from the grill to the next room where he simply cut it as if it were a whole pile of steak. And the main thing you order here is the peroni, which right now we'll see while he assembles it, but he cuts the steak.

He adds some broth, chops it, juices it, rehydrates it, and stuffs it into a tortilla with cheese and beans. Look at the size of this. Yes, it has to be two or three times larger than a normal taco. Freshly loaded there. Again, they are very quick to do this, getting rid of that (speaking in a foreign language) that is already rehydrated and squeezed. They add some soft beans, Oh, there are beans in here too. A little salsa, a little cilantro and onion, and then a little guacamole. And I'm going to feel the thickness of that tortilla too.

I'm going to pour some sauce on top and move the top. I had completely forgotten about the cheese that was there. Look at the amount of juice in this taco, it was simply excellent. They have made it so tender and smoky. It's like bean juice that binds it together, and the tortillas are like thick, to hold it together, wow. (Mexican dance music) - Yes - Again, that was just a bonus on our way to eating the giant Martian spider crabs. And then we're on our way back and we get in the van. We're on our way, probably another 20 minutes down the coast to get there. (Mexican dance music) Welcome to Popotla, it is an incredible peninsula full of small restaurants, small seafood stands, surrounded by the waves of the Pacific Ocean.

It's spectacular, beautiful. And Scott has arranged for us to meet with a lady who has reserved us and who has saved us some of the Martian spider crabs. And this... This is his house, he went up on a platform to that SUV and it burned down like a couple of weeks ago. So we're just here to show our support for one of the great ladies of seafood (speaking in a foreign language). (speaking foreign language) - This is Mark. (speaking foreign language) - So it's a sad story. Just a couple of weeks ago, his restaurant, which is right here on the ocean, caught fire.

And now he has a kind of makeshift tent with some umbrellas here, but the restaurant is called La Esterella. She's going to rebuild. And when you come anywhere from Tijuana to Ensenada, let's show her our support, come visit her, spend some time with her, come eat at her house. She is going to rebuild and make crabs for us. (speaks in a foreign language) - Wow, starting with a quick bite of unis, freshly opened sea urchin. You put it on a plate. There's some avocado, some cucumbers, some tomatoes and some onions and then they're served with fries.

This is like an appetizer to start. (Mexican dance music) Oh wow! It has a lot of cheese and a lot of lime juice. That is incredible. Alright. Ready. - Okay let's go. Anyway, just have a bite because now we are going to go to the seafood market and someone has a reservation, they are saving the crabs for us. - These are rock cod, this is white fish. - Then you go down to the beach and it's like a whole seafood market fresh from the fishermen. There are only tables full of fresh fish. There are the crabs. and there is also a beach, Hay Gaviotas.

It is an incredible fish and seafood market. And then you can buy seafood and then take it to the restaurant to cook it. - Yes, in fact we are going to buy one of these. - It's bigger, it's busier - (laughs) Yes, Mars spiders, Martian landing baby. - (laughs) Martian landing (Scott kissing) - (laughs) And a lobster, yes. (laughing) - Hello, how are you? (soft band music) - Crabs, they call them (in a foreign language) because they look like Martians. (speaking a foreign language) (dance music band) - And in Spanish, (speaking a foreign language) - Which literally translates to Martian because they look like Martians.

Yes. Spider crab. We have one. And then I think a couple more are booked. - Yes. Seafood all in one. Everything you can imagine, Seafood. You buy your fresh seafood here. They cut them right here. The boats are right here. The beach is right here. And then, yeah, we're back to (speaking in a foreign language) she's going to fry the swamp and the crabs. (crabs crashing) Just as we were about to go up, the fishermen had just unloaded a boatload of Martian crabs. Oh! (seagulls chirping) (loud dance music) - That's the one that cut my finger. (cracks crab) (speaks foreign language) (Mexican dance music) - Then immediately, immediately after being cleaned, they go directly to a pot of bubbling oil there where they are going to fry the crab.

Oh! And you can immediately see the color change. They almost have a blue color when raw. But you can immediately see them turn bright pink in that hot oil. (bubbling oil) Then the crab is fried until, yes, it glows. It turns orange-pink, almost fried to a crisp. And she took them out and that's only half of it. I thought it was all, (Mark mutters) Three Martian crabs. (Mexican dance music) (engine roar) - Why am I the first? - Thank you. - Here we go. (stone crashing) - Good - Still smoking - Nothing but meat, baby, nothing but meat. - Oh, I smelled that scent as soon as you opened it.

How's Scott? - Delicious, it's surprisingly sweet. Because it's a very ugly beast, but once you open this (Scott murmurs) - All I hear is moaning and moaning coming from the barn all the way down. Everyone has gone silent now. How's Jeffrey? - It's paradise, it's beautiful and sweet like candy. - Again, incredibly cool, literally a ship that was down there, to our table, which is right here. That's kilometer zero. In fact, I think we can call it like a 20-meter crab, 20 meters. - 20 meter crab. - 20 meter crab. - (laughs) From the boat to the table. They don't crush your crab.

What they give you is a stone. (shell crushing) (laughter) Oh, yeah. A giant. And that shell is also very hard. Look at how fibrous that watch is. Oh, it's also very hot. Pulling away. Oh! (shell crush) I think this has to be the most fibrous crab I've ever tasted. You look at the pieces as if they were, you can actually see their grains. Feel your grains. Look, get closer to that. (speaking a foreign language) (hitting stones) (speaking a foreign language) I have never eaten crab that is fibrous and just silky and melts in your mouth and just the sweetness, the flavor, the freshness, it's amazing. (speaking a foreign language) (hitting stones) (crowd murmuring) (laughing) So pure, so fresh, incredible. - It's a lot of fun to hang out with. (laughs) Marching thigh. (Mexican dance music) (stone strike) Drumstick time How little, it's like the joint between the body and the leg comes off.

The Martian leg that comes off is like a drumstick, just full of meat, full of... And it catches me. It also has that fried layer because it touches the oil. (Mexican dance music) Oh men, yes! (laughing) It's so good. So much meat and they are incredibly meaty. And everyone is so much fun to be around. The ocean bridge, the wave coming in, the smell of the sea, the crab fresh and direct, and just hitting. Everyone bangs their stones from time to time, like every minute, every second the table just rocks back and forth. (Mexican dance music) That makes you want to eat more. (hitting the table) (laughing) Yes, it is, yes, it's the best thing that can happen. - Oh man. - The freshness, the distinctive flavor of these martial crabs.

I mean, if you were to compare it to another crab, similar to king crab. Like different at the same time - Yes, totally. - Different but similar. Yes. The texture yes, totally different. And while the king crab leg, I think it was better. I think his knuckleball is as good as anything. Yes Yes it is. - A new category, world-class knuckleball. - The largest knuckle in the world. (laughs) (speaking a foreign language) When we didn't know if things could get better. (speaking a foreign language) She brought the head. This is the three crabs' head butter condensed into a single head and served on the Martian shell.

Like a thick, sticky soup.condensed... Oh, that smells amazing. - Incredible. (laughs) - It's like crab soup in juice and butter as a homily. Everything curdled in the head. - Oh. The essence of the crab. - Of course. - Yes. The essence of the crab, here we come. (laughing) - That's unbeatable. - It's very sweet. - Grab the winning stench. This could bring them all back to life. It's literally like there's sugar inside. It's very sweet. It literally tastes like it has sugar in it. What is this? - Those are the juices from the crab head and the butter, simply condensed into one head. - In the skull of a Martian crab. - Oh, that, it's a delicious crab pudding. - Wow, yes, that is intelligent kindness - How is that possible? - Yes, that's amazing.

It's the best pudding I've ever had in my life. - It's like the brain - It's amazing - It's really good. - It's really nice. This is something I always wanted to do in my life. (Mexican dance music) (laughter) Next. - Here you have. - Pass it on. It's even better this way. - I want to give you a Mark Wiens here. Delicious. (Mexican dance music) - Marko, that's great. Yes. There is a lot of Chalice (speaks in foreign language) Yes, this was the birthday cake. - Yes. without electricity. This is one of those foods that just throws us into a state of mind that isn't fully functioning, not fully alert, or not thinking clearly.

That crap was just the freshness and that chalice of juices and head butter at the end. That was the icing on the cake that topped it all. Drinking from the shell. It's so yummy. It has a slight bitterness that contrasts with the sweetness, but incredibly sweet, creamy, rich, bitter, sweet. I think I said that like three times, but it was actually like three times sweet. Oh man. That was dessert. That was dessert in Popotla, Martian crab dessert. And so we come to the end of this tour of Popotla focusing especially on the

martian

, the Martian crab or also known as crab.

Thank you very much to all my friends. Many thanks to Scott for being the gringo in Mexico. I will have your link in the description. Offers tours. He does social media. He is a Mexican food expert and incredibly passionate about Mexican food. And also thanks to Sebastian, who got us the crabs, who fixed them, and Jeffrey Merrihue Marihugh, I'll have his link in the description box. Go see them all and thank you to all my friends for bringing me here and taking me to Popotla. Thanks so much for looking. Remember to like this video and leave a comment below.

I would love to hear from you. And if you're not subscribed yet, click subscribe now and also click the little bell icon. This way you will receive an immediate notification of the next video I publish. Goodbye from Popotla and see you in the next video. And from here, we'll head straight to Ensenada for the next seafood street food tour. So stay tuned for that. (speaking foreign language) Thank you. (speaking a foreign language) One more thing before we go (speaking a foreign language) your stall is called (speaking a foreign language). She's going to rebuild. Come here, show your support.

She is an amazing cook and very friendly. So nice. Popotla, Mexico, Baja California.