Crabs caught directly from the sea have different colors, which depend on the specific species, but after cooking they all become orange-red. However, when it comes to crab meat, it has a white color and is extremely juicy and delicate in taste. It is worth emphasizing, however, that the tastiest meat is in crab claws. How to cook crab legs?
How to cook crab legs? Get ready for shopping
In most stores, it is mainly possible to buy frozen crabs, but you can also find places where both raw and cooked crabs are sold. When buying cooked crabs, you should look carefully at the legs, which should be undamaged, without discoloration on the bends. When shopping, raise the crab by gently shaking it to see if water is splashing. If so, this product should not be bought at all. As for raw crabs, they should be alive until cooked, otherwise the meat will simply be stale. It is worth emphasizing at this point that only a variety of crab called portunik can be dead, because the meat of other species breaks down extremely quickly after death. Live crabs are best stored in a moist jute bag, while cooked ones should be put in a special container or wrapped in foil.
Cooking crab claws
- Let the crab’s legs thaw. Put them in the fridge in the evening before you want to serve them.
- Slower thawing in the fridge is recommended, but if you need to brew your feet faster, you can place them for a few minutes under cold running water. Most frozen crab legs are already pre-cooked.
- The crab should be boiled immediately after thawing. Fill a large pot with water. Water should reach about half the height of the pot. Add salt, dried garlic and dill and bring the water to a boil with medium to high flame. Instead of dried garlic and dill, you can use 2 tablespoons of fish and seafood spices or mix any favorite mixture according to your imagination.
- Put the crab leg into the pan. Lower the temperature of the burner and cook the crab leg for 3 to 6 minutes. Do not cover the pot when cooking the crab legs.
- Cook the crab legs as long as they heat up. If you cook them too long, you will destroy their delicate taste. Water should be drawn rather than spitting when cooking crabs with legs. Serve hot. Pull out the crab leg with pliers and place on a platter. You can add crab legs with melted butter if you want.
How do you serve crab legs
The crab can be served both together with the shell and deprived of its outer covering. So how can you separate meat from crust? First, the crab should be cut in half, thanks to which extraction of meat from its interior will be much easier. First, pull the meat out of the ticks, pulling them away from the torso, because it is here that the tastiest part of the crab is located. The next step is to separate the legs from the torso, crushing the shell to get inside, from which you can extract another portion of the delicacy. At the end you should leave a torso, which must be cut with a sharp knife, because only in this way you can get to the rest of the meat.
