Blue crabs are a delicacy that is often synonymous with Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay areas of Virginia. However, crabs can be found almost anywhere along the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States where there is coastal marsh land. This includes the Peace River in Punta Gorda Florida where Peace River Seafood is found. As I watched the owner shuck oysters, pop shrimp tails off, and pick meat from crabs that had just been caught that morning, it reminded me of doing the same things as a child. Unfortunately, not everyone has had the chance to eat fresh crabs as a child like I did. So, here’s a quick guide on how to eat blue crabs.
Eating blue crab is a delicious treat that many people look forward to during crab season However, blue crabs can seem intimidating to eat if you’ve never tried them before With their spindly legs, hard shells, and hidden pockets of sweet meat, blue crabs require some technique to fully enjoy. Don’t worry – with a few simple steps, you’ll be eating blue crab like a pro in no time.
Choose Your Crabs Carefully
When selecting blue crabs to eat bigger is usually better. Look for crabs that feel heavy for their size and have all their legs and claws intact. The claws in particular contain a good amount of meat so you don’t want any missing. Avoid any crabs that seem lightweight, have cracks in their shells, or smell unpleasant. High-quality, fresh blue crabs should have a pleasant ocean aroma. Always try to buy live crabs whenever possible, as the flavor and texture deteriorate rapidly after death.
Boil Them Correctly
Before eating blue crabs, you’ll need to boil them to cook the meat and make the shells easier to open Use a large pot and fill it about halfway with water Bring the water to a rolling boil and add a few tablespoons of salt. Gently place the live crabs into the pot, cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes. The crabs will turn a bright orange-red color when fully cooked. Carefully remove them from the pot and allow to cool until easy to handle.
Prepare Your Workspace
Eating blue crab can get messy, so make sure your workspace is prepared. Cover the table with newspaper or butcher paper to catch any drips, shells, and debris. Put out plenty of napkins, moist towelettes, or fingerbowls so you can clean your hands periodically. You may also want to wear an apron or bib to protect your clothes. Set out small dishes of melted butter, lemon wedges, and cocktail sauce to dip the crab meat into. Provide nutcrackers, mallets, and seafood forks for cracking the hard shells.
Twist Off the Legs and Claws
Start your dismantling by twisting off the legs and claws. The legs can simply be discarded, while the meatier claws should be set aside to extract the meat later. Sometimes the claw meat can be easily pulled out at this stage. Use your hands or seafood crackers to twist off the legs and claws where they attach to the body.
Lift Off the Top Shell
Once the legs and claws are removed, flip the crab over so its underside is facing up. Then lift up the top shell and set it aside. This will expose the interior body meat as well as the gills and innards, which need to be scraped out and discarded. Rinse out the crab body cavity quickly under cold water to remove any debris.
Pick Out the Lump Meat
The sweet backfin lump meat is what you are after when eating blue crab. Use your fingers, a fork, or crab pick to gently remove pieces of white meat from the body and leg joints. Take care not to crush or shred the meat too much – it should come away in satisfying chunks. Work slowly and diligently to extract all the hidden pockets of lump meat.
Crack the Claws
Those reserved claws are also filled with tasty meat. Use a nutcracker or mallet to crack open the hard, outer shell. Pick or scoop the meat out, making sure to check for any residual meat in the smaller joint sections. Breaking the shell without crushing the meat too much takes practice – don’t be afraid to use tools to help.
Dip in Butter and Enjoy
Now dig into the harvested crab meat! Pile the lump meat onto a plate, cracker, or bread. Many people enjoy dipping the pieces into melted butter, lemon juice, or cocktail sauce as they eat. Take your time and savor the sweet, briny flavor of the crab. Handpick any remaining bits of meat you may have missed the first time around.
Tips and Tricks
-
Chill the live crabs in the refrigerator before boiling for best results. The cold makes them less active.
-
Old Bay and J.O. seasoning are classic blue crab spice mixes to try. Sprinkle them on after boiling.
-
Watch tutorials online to see the crab dismantling process in action before trying it yourself.
-
Eat over a trash bowl so you can easily discard shells and debris.
-
Provide handy moist towelettes for cleaning hands during your blue crab feast.
-
Male crabs tend to be sweeter, while female crabs contain the coveted orange roe (eggs).
-
Save any unused meat in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
With some preparation and technique, savoring delicious blue crab is easy and enjoyable. Just follow these steps to become a crab crackin’ pro in no time! Let your inner Marylander shine through at your next seafood boil or picnic.
/velvet-crab-eating-paulkay-getty-56a5f7a63df78cf7728abf16.jpg)
How to Eat Blue Crabs Like a Pro
The only bad way to eat blue crabs is so slowly that you can’t get any more. For most of us, watching our dads and older brothers eat blue crabs over the years is how we learned to do it. If youre new to this amazing food though, dont worry. We can learn quickly, so let’s get a sweet tea or beer and start learning how to eat blue crabs like pros!
Tools You Need to Eat Blue Crab …
For the most part, all you need to enjoy eating blue crab is your bare hands, a surface you don’t mind getting dirty, and clothes you don’t mind getting crab, guts, and seasoning on.
However, like any job – the proper tools make things a lot easier. To help break up the leg clusters, a pairing knife, and some kind of pick to get to the meat inside the legs that is hard to reach, these are the tools you should have. A bucket for shell pieces to go in, lots of paper towels, and wet naps to clean your hands are also good to have. After that, you’re pretty much on your own, but I like to eat blue crabs in a casual setting, like on a back porch or a picnic table with old newspapers spread out on it.
How to PROPERLY Pick & Eat Maryland Blue Crabs
FAQ
What part of a crab can’t you eat?
Why are blue crabs so tasty?
How many blue crabs per person?
How do you eat blue crab meat?
Eat them straight away with lemons and cold beer, or check out our favorite recipes for blue crab meat right here. 1. Turn the crab over so that its belly faces you. Using your fingers or the tip of a sharp knife, lift up its heart-shaped apron, or tail, and pull it back to snap it off of the body. 2.
Are coconut crabs healthy to eat?
Crabs are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, protein, vitamins like riboflavin and minerals like selenium, copper, phosphorus. Coconut crabs are not known to be poisonous. The fat in the abdomen and the egg inside the female are the delicious edible parts. It is prepared by steaming or boiling them in coconut milk. Consuming coconut crab along with sea mango, cerbera manghas may make the coconut crab toxic due to the presence of cardiac cardenolides(cardiac active steroids). This causes electrolyte imbalance that affects the electrical conductivity of the heart.
What do blue crabs eat?
Blue crabs love to eat other shellfish like clams, oysters, smaller soft-shelled blue crabs, and mussels, but they also eat fish like sea bream and eels and other plant and animal debris.
Are blue crabs hard to cook?
If you’ve never cooked fresh blue crabs, it might seem a bit intimidating. But, it’s actually not very hard at all—and the sweet crabmeat is well worth a little bit of manual labor. Found all along the East Coast and into the Gulf, this crab’s name comes from the color of its shell.