Cooking crabs

[Adrian]

Anyone got a good recipe for crabs? I used to cook them when I was younger and worked at a hotel near Cromer but can't recall what we did to enhance the flavour - I think we used some sort of stock but can't remember what went in it - terrible thing, old age!

 

[Dick Smith]

I just Googled 'cook crab' and came up with several options (58,400 actually), one of which was

http://www.messenger-inquirer.com/features/food/7472853.htm

However, as you only cook a crab for 8-10 minutes and it has a shell which is designed to be waterproof, does cooking it in stock or bouillon make any difference?

[Racerbear02]

I always try to cook them in sea water, don't know if it actually makes any difference, but they taste good.

[Dick Smith]

They taste good anyway - I'm just asking if the stock (or salted water) affects the flavour in any way. What did you do, Adrian, and was it good?

[Adrian]

[quote]They taste good anyway - I'm just asking if the stock (or salted water) affects the flavour in any way. What did you do, Adrian, and was it good?[/quote]

At the time I worked in a hotel 2 mile outside Cromer and all of the women who came in from the village to help out had husbands who owned crab boats. On my days off I would go out on the boats and then help cook and dress the crabs and pack them for shipping to posh restaurants in London. (Lets face it, there was naff-all else to do in Norfolk on a week day in the early 70's!) We definitely used stock because it enhanced the flavour - as I recall it was a court bouillon type but it's so long since I cooked one that I've forgotten - hence the post. I think that being dropped live into half a gallon of boiling water tends to render the waterproof shell somewhat useless, therefore the stock had an effect!

Anyway, we're off to France for a spot of convalescence on Tuesday so I'll pick one up in Inter and try cooking it with court bouillon and let you know - I'm attracted to the sea water recipe but being 30km from the coast it would make it a bit expensive.

[Battypuss]

You can get acceptable Court Bouillon in t-bag type things in the supermarket. I have found it does make a difference!

[David584]

Quote: (Lets face it, there was naff-all else to do in Norfolk on a week day in the early 70's!)

 

Nothing has changed then!!!

 

David

[Adrian]

[quote]You can get acceptable Court Bouillon in t-bag type things in the supermarket. I have found it does make a difference![/quote]

And it certainly did, Battypuss, although all the claws and legs fell off so not only did we have a great crab dinner but we had a pre-dinner game of crustacean 'beetle' when we threw dice to see who could be first to make up a whole crab.

Octaplegic crabs were not a problem in the past when we just wanted to dress them but it's not so good if you want a whole crab. Apparently this is a defence mechanism which only happens when they are alive so, to keep this from happening, you have to kill them first by stabbing them up the bum with a screwdriver  and letting the water drain out. I'll give that a try in October.

 

[Jirac18]

[quote]Anyone got a good recipe for crabs? I used to cook them when I was younger and worked at a hotel near Cromer but can't recall what we did to enhance the flavour - I think we used some sort of stock bu...[/quote]

Adrian,

were you cooking crabs when the traveeling surveyor knocked on you door and asked to see your bum?

I like crab steamed cut in half and stir fried in chilli and garlic. Very simple, fresh and wonderfully tasty.

 

[opas]

Plain boiled ,defleshed and with a touch of lemon,lovely.

[Foxtrot]

Their legs fall off as a defense mechanism. The tourteaux crabs you're meant to put them in cold water and bring to the boil (too cruel of you ask me) and spider crabs straight into boiling water...

katie

[Adrian]

Thanks Katie.

Having read Jeff Martin's excellent discourse on cooking crabs (except for the amount of salt he uses) (which can be found at http://www.btinternet.com/~jeff.martin/Crabs.htm  I was trying to minimise the suffering; although he does make a valid point that in the wild they get eaten alive which is not exactly a pain free demise. Next time, however, I will kill them first as he recommends.

I was fascinated by his view on Lobsters which I have pasted below.

It appears that there are many different ideas on the way a Lobster should be dispatched, from drowning in fresh water to dropping them into boiling water. Many of the ideas have a certain merit since a Lobster is a cold blooded creature with no brain, except for its nervous system, and body fluids which are pumped around it's system by muscle movement. It is not possible to kill it, in the normal meaning of the word. I believe the RSPCA suggests two hours in the freezer, however since we have a cold room which operates at 0 C to -1 C we simply put them in there for 4 to 5 hours. This slows down their metabolism to such a low level that they peacefully sink into oblivion, then they are cooked without even knowing.

He appear to be suggesting that while Crabs have feelings, Lobsters don't. I feel another Commons protest coming on!