BEST BITE | SPIDER CRAB ARROZ CREMOSO
Spider Crab Arroz Cremoso
Asador Bastian, Chicago
Spider Crab Arroz Cremoso at Asador Bastian — Saffron-simmered bomba rice, sweet spider crab and a little lesson in why sharing is sometimes overrated
It arrives looking almost prehistoric.
In the center of a glossy black skillet sits the spiny coral shell of a spider crab, perched atop a pool of golden saffron rice. The Spider Crab Arroz Cremoso at Asador Bastian is strange and beautiful, the sort of dish that causes everyone at the table to lean forward when it appears.
And then they take the shell away.
Beneath it is the sweet spider crab meat, which is stirred into bomba rice simmered with saffron, mussels, Spanish octopus and lobster. The result falls somewhere in the delicious territory between risotto and paella: creamy and spoonable, but with the rice retaining enough structure that you never lose sight of the individual grains.
On paper, it sounds like a lot.
And yet the cremoso is remarkably nuanced. With so many elements at play, the flavors could easily blur together. Instead, you can still pick them out, particularly the spider crab, whose delicate sweetness comes through beautifully. Even the saffron is measured, lending its distinctive flavor to the rice without obscuring the seafood.
Then there is the texture. The rice is extraordinarily lush, almost voluptuous, coating the tongue before giving way to the occasional piece of seafood. It is the kind of texture that makes you close your eyes for a second, then immediately go back in with the spoon.
Which would be fine if you were dining alone.
Unfortunately, the cremoso is meant to be shared.
I order it every time I go, and I have yet to become more gracious about this arrangement. There is a point, usually when the skillet has made its first trip around the table, when a small panic sets in. I start keeping an eye on what remains. How many people still haven’t had any? Was that second spoonful really necessary? Is it socially acceptable to pull the skillet back toward me?
Because suddenly I’m doing the math. There are perhaps three bites left, I desperately want one of them and the skillet is sitting two people away.
The menu offers the cremoso in two sizes. Ignore the smaller one. And I’m not entirely convinced the larger one is large enough.
And somewhere between the first spoonful and scraping up the last streaks of saffron-stained rice, I inevitably have the same thought:
How soon can I come back and eat this again?
Asador Bastian | 214 W. Erie Street | Chicago, Illinois | Website
