What Korean dish is raw crab marinated in soy sauce?

What Korean dish is raw crab marinated in soy sauce? The answer is ganjang gejang.

Ganjang gejang is a Korean seafood dish made by marinating fresh raw crab in ganjang, or Korean soy sauce. The crabs are usually cleaned carefully and covered with a seasoned marinade that may include garlic, ginger, scallions, chili, sugar, and sesame oil. The crab is served chilled, with diners often eating the flavorful roe and juices with rice.

The broader term gejang refers to crab preserved or marinated in a seasoned mixture. Ganjang gejang identifies the soy-sauce version, distinguishing it from yangnyeom gejang, which uses a sweet-and-spicy chili-based seasoning. That distinction matters because both dishes involve raw crab but have very different flavors and appearances.

Historical references to gejang appear in Joseon-era cookbooks, including Sallim gyeongje, written around the end of the seventeenth century. The dish is also famously called a “rice thief,” a Korean expression for a strongly flavored side dish that makes people eat more rice. Because it uses raw seafood, freshness, handling, and refrigeration are especially important.