By By Dharshan

20 We, as Sri Lankans, deserve to be able to enjoy the best ingredients that our island has to offer, and I wanted to create a restaurant that would do just that. That’s how the Ministry of Crab came about, through the passion to re-own the crab from Singapore, as we saw it as our duty to bring the crab back to its country of origin. The Ministry of Crab’s core focus is the Lagoon Crab, and our gratitude towards this amazing ingredient has led to our initiatives to work towards promoting the sustainability of the crab while eventually trying to stop the sale and export of crab below 400 grams. Years ago, I learned how to choose crabs—to differentiate the water crabs from the meaty crabs—from vendors in Pettah, to whom I am forever grateful for teaching me those simple lessons. Since then, with Nihonbashi growing to what it is, I have had to learn more detailed grading of crab from exporters who are experts in this field. I‘ve always paid attention to ingredients available in Sri Lanka, and we are so fortunate that these succulent lagoon crabs, often hailed as the best crabs in the world, are found locally. However, Sri Lanka has always exported the majority of its lagoon crabs to Singapore, and it baffles me as to why they’re never locally available and locals never eat them, but they are proud to emphasize the fact that they are only available in Singapore.