Ways to Cook Crab

Food/Cooking - Types of Food

By: ListMaker 14-Jan-2011

Introduction:

I'm the queen of finding ways to cook crab, any type of crab, as I love the little crustaceans. I live by the Chesapeake Bay where blue crabs are abundant in the summer so the below ways to cook crab top the list!

Steamed Blue Crabs

Steamed blue crabs are my absolute favorite way to cook crabs. With a latin name that translates to 'beautiful swimmer,' they're beautiful on my brown paper covered table too!

Cooking blue crabs is not for the faint of heart as they must be cooked live. Cooking a dead crab is always a bad idea. If you're not squeamish, read on.

If you don't have an official crab pot which has an elevated bottom to keep the crabs out of the water, use any large pot and add a brick to the bottom to keep your blue crabs from sitting right in the water (note: don't use a good pot as the crab claws will destroy the inside surface. A grate or any elevated surface in the bottom of the pot will work also - the goal is to make sure the crabs steam instead of boil. For a large pot which will steam about a dozen blue crabs at a time, add about 2 cups of water and 1 beer to the pot. Allow the water and beer to boil and then add the live crabs. Add four or so blue crabs as the bottom layer and sprinkle with Old Bay, add another layer and sprinkle with Old Bay until you get to the top of the pot. Immediately cover and add a brick or a weight to the top of the crap pot so the crabs can't escape (sorry crab God...). Reduce the heat to medium and allow to steam exactly 22 minutes - no more, no less. Your steamed crabs will be soooooo good cooked this way.

Make Crab Cakes

Anyone who loves crabs should know the beauty of finding a really good crab cake to broil or fry up. The best crab cakes should have NO filler. And, although it's difficult to get a good crab cake to stick together without filler, it is possible. I like to use a mixture of pureed scallops and butter to hold the crab cakes together. The scallops and butter mixture is light enough and mostly flavorless so it just acts as a binder without detracting from the delicate flavor of the crab in the crab cake.

Head olive oil and butter in a skillet and add the crab cake. DO NOT turn over until the bottom is crusty and brown. Flip and brown the other side. Crab cakes are amazing things.

Crab and Artichoke Dip

Although this is not a purist's idea of a good way to cook crab, if you need a crab fix, it'll do.

Open a can of crab meat and pick though to remove any shells or flukes. Chop up a jar of artichoke hearts (not marinated) and mix with a brick of cream cheese. Heat in a slow cooker - note: do not add crab yet. Crab meat is very delicate and will dissolve if you heat it too long.

Once the artichoke and cream cheese is heated, gently fold in the crab meat. Heat a few minutes and serve with crusty french bread. You can even top it with a bit of parmesan cheese and place in the broiler for a moment.

Crab Salad

Just add a bit of fresh (or canned if you must) crab meat to the top of any fresh salad. Add a light dressing of vinegar and oil and enjoy your crab this way. Lump crab meat works best for salads as lump crab meat is in larger pieces from the back fin of the crab.

Boil some Crab Legs

Although I'll only eat crab legs (like dungenous or stone crab) when I can't get blue crabs, they'll fill in in a pinch. All you need is some boiling water, some old bay seasoning and some crab legs. Since crab must always be fully cooked before being frozen and sold, you really only need to heat them for about 7 minutes until you've got your crab legs ready to go. See the eHow article "How to boil crab legs" for a more thorough description.

Final Thoughts

Those of us who love crabs are amazed at those of you who don't. You really have no idea of what you're missing if you've never attended a crab feast with 20 close friends, a keg of beer, some corn and coleslaw. Ah, those are the good old times.

Supporting Links

Give this list a high five!

Comments

Post a Comment

clewand550 1/14/2011
Flag This Comment

Love crab. Good list on ways to cook crab. Thanks.
ListingToTheLeft 1/14/2011
Flag This Comment

All of these crab recipes sound delightful!