Place a crab on its back on the work surface. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Carefully take your live crabs out of the ice water with tongs and place them into the steamer pot one by … There are just two easy steps to cleaning blue crabs this way: Crack off the top of the shell Clean out the guts and gills (the easiest way to do this is to blast it all out with a hose) Leave it in the water for five minutes. Wash the crabs clean. In another bowl, combine 1 cup flour, ¼ cup cornstarch, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, and ½ teaspoon cayenne. First, boil the water, put the legs in, then boil for 15 minutes. Step 2: Boiling the whole crabs To boil 3 pounds live hard-shell blue crabs, bring 8 quarts water and 2 teaspoons salt to boiling in a 12- to 16-quart pot. By using The Spruce Eats, you accept our, How to Buy, Clean, and Cook Soft Shell Crabs. Pull the top of the crab’s shell off using your fingers. So position yourself near a sink while cleaning the crab. Usually the face of the crab will come off with the shell but if not be sure to remove the crabs face as well. Simply rinse them out under cool running water. Step 2: Cook. I have cleaned the crabs and mashed its claws before cooking. Rinse under cold running water. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. Cooking spider crabs is very similar to boiling blue crabs and/or stone crab claws. for sauteing. 2. After spraying the crab clean, there will be nothing left but shell and succulent crab meat. If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. Place the steamer section into the pot, making sure the steamer is not touching the liquid. Pull off the abdomen, the piece of shell on the crab's underside, before removing the gills, which are the beige tongue-like things you will see inside. If you want to reserve the crab butter, make sure to hold the crab upside-down and pull the body up and out of the top shell so the shell collects the liquid. If you don't want to boil them after catching them, at the very least, you should clean the crabs before freezing. Cover pan and bring water to a boil over high heat. Immerse the whole crab and again bring the water to boiling. A male crabs' claw is bright blue while a female is red. When fresh, they smell clean and astringent, like sea mist―a fitting aroma for a delicacy that both captures the romance of the sea and the allure of a full moon in spring. Let's start by turning the crab over. Shake or roll the claws in the flour. Toss the whole cleaned crabs (or halves or quarters depending on the size) with some olive oil and maybe a minced clove of garlic or two, plus some chopped rosemary or thyme leaves if you like. Simple as boiling water, seasoning, salt, and a little vinegar. For tips on how to kill a crab before you clean it and how to cook a crab, read on! After you've done one or two, they go pretty quickly. The term "soft-shell" refers to the brief time after a blue crab molts and before the new, hardened shell has formed; the entire shell is edible during this period. Some people add crab boil, found in grocery stores. Boil or steam the crabs as outlined above for about 5 minutes, let them cool, then clean them. Many people ask us how do you clean a crab to use for sauce or for sauteing. 6. Crab sections can be cooked in boiling water. One point though, always have the claws removed from the vendor selling the crab. It’s Dungeness crab season in California! Most crabs can be broken in half or into quarters by hand. know where to start How to Clean and Cook Crab Like a Pro Buying, Storing, and Cleaning. In the world of cleaning animals, crab guts are pretty innocuous. Wrap them with bread bran and flour, heat the oil at a low temperature, fry the crab pieces in the wok until golden yellow. Bring the water, vinegar (or beer), and salt to a boil in your large pot and add in 2 tbsp of the Old Bay seasoning. Yes. The mandibles, at the front of the crab, need to be removed–simply snap the two pointy things to break them away from the crab and discard them. Use a light … This dish is very popular in Singapore and actually popular across all parts of the world for crab and seafood lovers. Once they are done, drop them briefly into the ice bath to stop the cooking process. It'll be easy to clean crabs when you have access to running water. The remaining parts of the crab (besides the shell) that you don't want to eat are the guts. After the crab is cooked, let it sit to cool down. Hold the body with one hand and pull off the top shell by grabbing the shell where that small hole is. Use a large knife to cut apart bigger or tougher crabs. 3. Great prices on cheap crab are being found all over San Francisco at places like Manila Oriental Market, Chinatown, and Clement Street. If your crab is live, you will need to boil it to kill it. How to Cook and Clean a Blue Crab . You'll want to cook the crabs before you clean them. Break the crab's body in half and rinse it under cold water. Whisk one egg and 1/2 cup milk together in a small bowl. Simply rinse them out under cool running water. Steam or boil your crab at ~7-8 minutes/pound, lid on but cocked to allow a bit of venting. Any medium to large sized mud crabs you can use for the dish. Once your crab is clean, you can cook and enjoy it. Simply pull them all off and discard them. By using our site, you agree to our. Other people wear latex gloves to protect themselves from the heat of the shells. You now have a fully cleaned crab. Once you’ve purchased your crab of choice, there are a handful of options for cooking the … The crab can either be frozen like this, in … Don’t be shy to pull the meat through your teeth and suck out the juice.Next, turn the crab over and pull open the crabs private part. My mother used to buy the crabs and clean it, slowly i took over cleaning the crabs since my teen days. Live crabs ship surprisingly well when handled properly and kept on ice, but there is something about the local crab season that can't be beaten, whether that's Dungeness crab pulled out of the Pacific Ocean or blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay. You can rinse them quickly under cold water to move things along. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published, This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. You should be left with two even sections of crab meat. It is much easier to clean crabs after cooking when the meat has loosened from the shell. How to Cook and Clean a Fresh Dungeness Crab Step 1: Get a Fresh Crab. Last Updated: October 23, 2020 Pull in opposite directions with your thumbs until the top part of the crab’s shell tears from the rest of its body. While crab comes in many forms, there are three options for purchasing the shelled sea... Boiling. Along the top are two rows of opaque, feathery gills. Remove the crab from the pot and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process and cool the shell for handling. Choose a method, add water to your pot, and bring it to a boil. Remove crabs and fill pan with enough water to cover crabs by 2 to 3 inches. Crabs kept on ice or in the fridge will be lethargic, but even they should respond to being picked up or moved around with a bit of leg movement. Turn crab over and remove shell by prying off using your thumb or fingers. Place crab on a work surface, belly side up. The remaining parts of the crab (besides the shell) that you don't want to eat are the guts. To clean soft-shell crabs, hold the crab in one hand, and using a pair of kitchen shears, cut off the front of the crab, about 1/2 inch behind the eyes and mouth. You can any method you like to do this, but a quick 60-second blanch in boiling water seems to do the trick. The "apron" on a crab is a triangle of shell on the bottom of the crab (on males it is smaller, narrower, and more pointed; on females it is bigger, wider, and more rounded). This double insulation will prevent any air from getting to the crab. Boiling is more common, but steaming crabs emerge from the pot less water-logged and more filled with their own crabby juices. the closer to new moon the better. Discard the top part of the shell. Rinse under cold running water. Pull the apron -- the triangular segment of shell -- up … Boil for about 18-20 minutes. As you can see in the video above, all our friends from Deer Meat For Dinner use are: We'll here are some instructions on how to clean the crab and get … If you want to eat crab meat, you need to clean your crab first. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. Put thumb on back of top shell fingers on Once you have them sedated you will need a knife, running water, a huge trash bag and a place to put the clean crabs. However, not all scissors will be sharp enough. Then, cut the legs into thin pieces. It is generally easier to use scissors to remove the face. Others just simply want to eat their already cooked crab and don't know where to start. Cook them for 12 minutes. Let the crab cool for a minute before beginning the cleaning process. Once the top shell is gone, you'll see the crab's insides. 4. wikiHow's. Cook your crab. This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Either way will work, it's all in your preference for mess. By keeping the blue crabs frozen at 0°F, it can stay safe for consumption indefinitely. Some like to steam their crabs, whereas others prefer to boil them. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. For tips on how to kill a crab before you clean it and how to cook a crab, read on! Remove the apron by grabbing the point towards the front of the crab and pulling it off. Step 1: Prepping the whole crabs Grasp live crabs from behind, firmly holding the back two legs on each side. Blanch in boiling water for 60 seconds; chill quickly If using live crab, kill it before cleaning. Get daily tips and expert advice to help you take your cooking skills to the next level. 5. Allow each crab to cook for approximately 15 minutes (once they float to the top, give them an extra 2-3 minutes). Take them out and soak them in cold water for 10 minutes. These are not tasty. To clean the crab: begin by removing the top shell. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 44,838 times. https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/cleaning-crab, http://www.eatingwell.com/healthy_cooking/healthy_cooking_101_basics_techniques/kitchen_tips_techniques/how_to_prepare_dungeness_crab, http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/how-to-clean-soft-shell-crabs.html, http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/crab/clean_prepare.html, http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/09/french-in-a-flash-soft-shell-crab-meuniere-recipe.html, consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. To complete the cleaning process, rinse out the crab's guts under cold water until all of the greenish brown substances are gone. This will stun the crab and prevent nasty pinches during the cleaning process. Get your fishing license and set out some crab traps! Holding the crab claws by the claw shell, dip the meaty part into the egg wash, and then dredge them in the flour again. % of people told us that this article helped them. After you've pulled off the apron, you will see a small hole between the body and the top shell, or carapace, at the back of the crab. One Tip my mother gave to me : Always buy the crab during the full moon to the new moon phase i.e. Once it has completely cooled down, take a layer of cling wrapper and wrap each blue crab individually. Then, extract the meat by holding the crab upside down and pushing down on both sides until the crab breaks in half. Dunk the crab in ice water to stop cooking. There are two theories about preparing the crab for cooking; the crab can be cracked in half and cleaned before placing in the pot, or the entire crab can be placed into the pot and then cleaned after it's cooked. A cleaned crab is ready to serve if you're having people pick crab meat themselves (you can offer guests homemade aioli, alongside the crab butter, for dipping) or ready to pick if you are going to use the crab meat in another dish like crab cakes or gumbo. In the world of cleaning animals, crab guts are pretty innocuous. Whether you catch the crabs yourself or buy them at your local fishmonger, you'll need to clean them thoroughly before cooking and eating. An award-winning food writer and cookbook author, Molly Watson has created more than 1,000 recipes focused on local, seasonal ingredients. Unlike before where cleaning the crab was optional, you’re going to have to now if you plan on it lasting more than a week. The Spruce Eats uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. This is a beautiful saucy crab dish thickened with egg bits partly cooked in hot sweet and sour spicy broth. If you’ve felt intimidated about cooking and cleaning your own Dungeness, don’t. Using the tongs, pick up a crab and place it in the bucket of ice water. No matter what crabs you have on hand, use this guide to get them ready to eat. You will also need to remove the shell and guts as part of the cleaning process. A mature crab will generally molt about once a month, growing larger with each molt. 2. Remove the crabs from the pot and let sit until cool enough to handle. To cook your crabs, use a large pot. Lift the tool to pop the shell free from the crab, exposing the entrails and gills. References. Most people discard the carapace, but some people like to clean the shell is use it to serve crab salad. 2. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/f\/f4\/Clean-Crab-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Clean-Crab-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/f\/f4\/Clean-Crab-Step-1.jpg\/aid8592321-v4-728px-Clean-Crab-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":306,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"485","licensing":"