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By: Rex Omalde

During our trip in northern Luzon last February, my boss andtwo of my officemates dropped by at a seaside resto along the narrow highway ofSantiago Ilocos Sur. It was a near sunny morning at 9:20 AM with gentle breezesblowing as strong only to cause tiny ripples on the sea just around fiftymeters away from the wooden and bamboo made with concrete flooring restaurantbuild on a sandy loam soil.

Of course it was not a five star haven but the naturallandscape of fine grayish sand lined with medium height coconut trees offshorecreates an enticing view that nature lovers would certainly enjoy. Let’s add toit the amazing seafoods of mouth-watering quality.

What caught my attention actually was the ceramic potcontaining unusual type of crabs stewed in coconut milk with some herbs in it.It looked very exotic to me that my stomach can’t almost contain but only tofind out that it actually taste good. They are not as succulent as the mudcrabs but they taste very similar.

Photo by: Market Manila

These crabs look familiar to me as it varies from brownishto reddish in color with broad and strong claws. One of my officemates said itwas damuko but the name in the menu sheet actually called it kagang.

Photo by: Market Manila

At first, I thought of it to be katang but itresembles almost like a dyokoy. As far as I know, katang looks muchparallel to a mud crab but slightly smaller in size with almost square torounded frame. These one is most equal to dyokoy whom I used to catchduring my childhood years and dyokoy in my complete senses is not edible in ourplace. Each one can see them roaming around the shoreline especially in Tibiaoeach summer days. I know kagang but it looks different. Kagangs in Tibiao canbe found on rivers and streams but this one are caught on the shore.

I can steel remember as a child, I would catch these dyokoysnear the seashore just for fun. There agility makes it difficult to catch themwhile they are crawling on the sand but once they are inside their holes, itwas so easy to trap them. The bigger they are, the deeper they bore holes andbeware to catch them inattentively because their strong claws might clip yourfingers anytime. Uughh, I experienced the pain before (lol).

Photo by: hthyou.com

Who can validate that these crabs are katang or dyokoy?Anyone? Or do you know dyokoy?