I’m not a big fan of crabs when it comes to seafood, preferring the much easier to eat shrimps and squids. It’s just so cumbersome to eat that I usually get tired digging for meat even before the meal ends. But it’s a different story when in Capiz, where super-sized mud crabs abound at the Pontevedra Market. With its size, I’m pretty sure its claws would be more than enough for my whole meal.

It was a fine sunny day, our third one in the province of Capiz, as we alighted from the van provided by the provincial tourism office. We dropped by the Pontevedra Market to check out the big-ass mud crabs that are regularly sold there by locals.

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The market stands beside the brown-greenish Agbalo River where curiously-shaped boats line the banks. The mud crabs are usually caught in these waters. Quite convenient since they can easily row it back with their boats to the market.

We saw basketfuls of crabs along the hallways of the market, their huge claws bound by plastic straws.

But these are not your ordinary crabs. Mud crabs which are also called king crabs are not called such for nothing. We sampled one on a scale and it tipped the one kilo mark quite easily.

How much does a one-kilo crab cost at Pontevedra? A thousand pesos, the vendor quickly told us.

I’m not familiar with the prices of these crustaceans, leaving the market chores to my mom and sister every time we go to Dampa Macapagal, so I have no idea if that’s expensive or not.

The best time to buy crabs at the Pontevedra is during market day. Twice every week, the whole river bank facing the market gets filled with vendors selling all sorts of bounties from the sea. Too bad we were unable to witness such event, being there on a lull day.

On our way out, we spotted a local kakanin delicacy being sold at one of the market’s corner. We immediately flocked the vendor, bought a piece for a mere ₱5.00 to try out.

The wedge-shaped kakanin is called suman sa ibos, a local suman version found in Capiz.

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Made from glutinous rice steamed inside a banana leaf, I’m not sure why this rice delicacy is paired with the word ibos, which pertains to suman wrapped in palm leaves. This particular one is wrapped with banana leaves, so it should’ve been called suman sa lihiya.

But no matter, the suman itself doesn’t taste much. We paired it the muscovado latik that traditionally accompanies it, and it quickly became an instant hit with the group. We sure weren’t able to afford the thousand-peso king crab, but we’re quite happy with our five-peso suman in Pontevedra.

Pontevedra Public Market
Address: Brgy. Poblacion, Pontevedra, Capiz
Opening Hours: Open daily, Market Day twice weekly
GPS Coordinates Map: 10.375193, 122.869747

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