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Originally Posted by
Bella21
I noticed whole crabs at the grocery store today. The only experiance I've had with them is when my friends Vietnamese father cooked stuffed whole crabs for us... I couldn't begin to tell you what was in them since I was so young. :-[
Could someone recommend how I would cook a whole crab? Different methods or recipes, maybe?
Since you're in SF, I would think you're talking about stone crabs, right? Why not google "stone crabs" or "cooking stone crabs"? Some of the advice given in this thread pertains to other types of crab and/or is incorrect.
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10-08-2007 04:02 PM Sophia_Starina I love crab! I usually boil a big pot of water and add heaps of salt and some old bay seasoning. I also might throw in some whole peppercorns. I boil a dozen crabs for about 12-15 minutes. If you turn off the heat and let them steep they get even tastier (maybe like 10 minutes more).
You're probably talking about blue channel crabs. I hope you mean to steam them and not boil them!! Steam them for 20 minutes in a mixture of water and vinegar. Some people like to add a beer to the liquid.
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10-09-2007 09:04 AMtRoUbLeMaKeR I love crabs! I could eat them everyday! LOL!
My favorite way to cook them is how they do in Maryland...put them in a steaming pot with a little bit of water and beer (don't let the crabssoak in the water). And cover them with old bay! The more the better!!! :) Gosh...I don't know what my life was like before old bay! :P
Right - except for the Old Bay. The pro's use J.O. crab spice. It's coarser and has coarse salt mixed in. Holds up to the steaming better than Old Bay. Ask to buy some where you get your live crabs.
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10-09-2007 06:37 PMBella21 But... if it's a whole crab, aren't there nasty guts and stuff that I have to dig out??
Yes - but quit being such a priss, that's part of eating crabs! Deal with it!
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10-09-2007 08:14 PM tRoUbLeMaKeR when you open the shell (once it's cooked) there will be the lungs - which you don't eat and the intestines - which some people eat. under that is the meat. but you don't open all that up until it's cooked :P
Crabs don't have lungs, they have gills. We call them "deadmen". I don't know anyone who eats the intestines - bad idea, but a lot of people eat the yellow crab fat which is found in the points of the shell. However, we're talking blue channel crabs here, not stone crabs from San Francisco Bay. They are very different animals.
Orange clusters or "orange chunky stuff" is the roe or eggs, so only the females will have this. It is edible. Yellow stuff is the crab fat - also edible. I like it.
Bella, do NOT follow the directions for blue channel crabs. Your crab is probably a stone crab. It's bigger and heavier than the Maryland crabs. It has a thicker shell and it lives on the bottom crawling over the rocks. I'm pretty sure that they are usually boiled, which can ruin a blue channel crab. the anatomy and edible parts are different from the east coast crabs. You're primarily eating the claws and legs, while there is a lot of good meat inside the east coast crabs.
LoveSexMoney- the east coast crabs have a lot of the meat inside the shell, especially the part attached to the swimmer fins, called the "backfin lump". The stone crabs from the west coast primarily have meat in the claws and legs. You cook some lobstahs and I'll cook some crabs and we'll have a feast!
Whatever kind you're having, good luck - and bon appetit! Please give us a report on how it turned out.