When your uncle enjoys fishing, sometimes you reap the benefits. And recently, I reaped the benefits of his blue claw crab haul.
First I’ll start by saying I’ve never cooked live crabs before. I’ve never cooked live lobster either. So this was an experience! And not easy lol And a little sad. But I did it. And they came out so good.
First, the box of crabs my uncle handed me. I was praying they didn’t crawl out of the box in my trunk!
So I got them home, all accounted for, and left the box on my porch. Went inside, washing my hands of course, then started a mixture of beer, water, chili powder, crushed garlic, salt, and pepper to steam these bad boys. In a large pasta pot I was able to fit all 13-14 of them. One beer can with a little bit of water is all the liquid you need. I placed a steamer rack at the bottom of the pot, then brought the pot, lid, and tongs outside. My uncle warned me they may try to escape so cover them with the lid.
Oh boy was this hilarious! I went at one crab trying to grab one claw with the tongs. And they all started coming for me! The one was trying to grab at the tongs with the other claw. Then it slipped out from the wiggling! So I tried again but it was grabbing on to another one! Then, the others started charging again! Pushing them away, I finally got one. Got it in the pot and slammed the lid on! Victory! Then it settled down which was good. One by one, I got them all into the pot! Woohoo!
Time to steam. About 25 minutes for this many crabs. Get the liquid up to a boil then bring down to a simmer. I walked away for a few minutes and came back to hearing tapping. Yes, tapping. They will be trying to get out (the sad part!). Do your best to ignore this. And make sure the lid doesn’t pop off haha. After about 25 minutes I tested one of the claws to ensure they were cooked. They will be a beautiful bright orangey-red when cooked.
Now, to open them! I watched a YouTube video on how to do it. I would recommend this. But here are the steps.
First rip the legs off. Then turn the crab upside down on its back and pull back and off the apron. You can get under it with a knife if you need.
This allows you to get inbetween the front and back shell and pop the crab open. This part isn’t for squeamish people! But I promise you get used to it. When you open the crab, you’ll see the lungs on either side which you’ll need to remove, and its guts which you’ll also need to remove.
I know, not pretty! But once you get past that, you are at the good part. Start cracking away and removing the yummy lump crab meat from the body. Then go back and crack the claws and get that meat out.
Absolutely delicious. So delicious, and it takes a decent amount of time to get the meat out, you may just start eating as you’re de-shelling like I was! I couldn’t get the meat out quick enough. But in all seriousness, you could eat the meat steamed as is, maybe dipping in some garlic butter (vegan butter for me). Or you can make crab cakes, which is what I did the next night with my sister. Every holiday, my sister makes crab cakes. I’ll admit she uses imitation crab meat, but they are delicious and there are never leftovers. She just eyeballs the ingredients having learned in her days as a restaurant chef, so I tried to measure this out to share with y’all. Feel free to skip the steaming and just buy lump crab meat. Or the imitation kind. Whatever your preference.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups lump crab meat picked over for shells. We also used the claw meat.
- 1tbs yellow mustard
- 1/3 cup mayo
- Sautéd onions or 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- Salt and pepper
- 1 egg, beaten. I used about 2/3 of the egg
- 1/8-1/4 cup breadcrumbs, plus more for coating
Directions
Mix all the ingredients slowly as to not disturb the crab meat too much. You want to keep a lot of the chunks. Stick in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes to make it easier to form the patties. Once the patties are formed, coat in the rest of the breadcrumbs and sauté in a pan over medium high heat to get a nice crust. Once browned on one side, flip and brown the other side until cooked through. Serve with a spicy mayo or cocktail sauce. Enjoy!
I'm Just Here To Cook...and Eat! 