Crab is a simple but classy dish. In restaurants it is often very expensive, so you can try to cook it at home. If you're short on time, ask the fish counter clerk to kill the crabs before taking them home (you'll need to cook them right away). Alternatively, before cooking them, you can kill these animals without making them suffer. When the crab is ready to go to the pot, decide whether to steam it, in order to maintain its sweet taste. You can also boil it to prepare it in less time, or cook it on the grill.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Kill a Crab without Making It Suffer
Step 1. Freeze the crabs
Put them in the freezer for a few hours. The cold air will put them to sleep and make them move much slower. This allows you to handle them better when you need to kill them and can even ease their pain. Once they are desensitized, kill them immediately so they don't recover and feel pain again.
If you have purchased large crabs, it will take longer to freeze them
Step 2. Check if the animal has lost sensation
You will know that a crab has been frozen long enough if it is easy to handle. He shouldn't move his limbs or react when you touch him near his mouth.
Try to hit the shell of the crab. If the animal does not react, it means that it has lost sensitivity
Step 3. Penetrate the shell of the crab to kill it
You can quickly puncture a crab's two nerve centers to kill it in an instant and without causing it pain. Place the still animal with the shell on a non-slip mat. Raise your tail. You should notice a hole that looks like a small dot. It is located directly above a nerve center. Take a knife and punch the hole at an angle of 85 °. Repeat for the frontal nerve center.
- The frontal nerve center is located within the slight depression in the front of the crab. Insert the knife at a 60 ° angle.
- The process should take less than 10 seconds. Once done, you can cook the crab however you like.
Step 4. Consider purchasing and thawing frozen crab
If you don't want to rush to cook a crab while it's fresh and don't even want to kill it, buy frozen crab claws and legs. These products are steamed before being frozen, so you just need to reheat them to serve. To defrost a crab you can:
- Put it in the refrigerator and let it thaw overnight.
- Put it in a container filled with fresh water that you will leave in the sink or on the kitchen counter.
Method 2 of 4: Cook a Steamed Crab
Step 1. Boil a pot of water
Choose a large saucepan that can hold a steamer basket and has a lid that fits snugly against the rim. Fill it with about 2-3 cm of water and put the basket on the bottom. Cover it with the lid and boil the water.
If you don't have a steamer basket, make a sort of string out of tinfoil and place it on the bottom of the pot to make an "8"
Step 2. Place the crabs in the pot
Use pliers to pick them up, with one arm on the animal's abdomen and one on the back. The legs should hang from both sides of the gripper arms. Place the crabs in the basket.
Make sure the crab's back is facing up
Step 3. Steam the crabs
Put the lid on the pot and boil the water over high heat. Let it cook for a minute. Lower the heat to medium-high and leave the crab in the pot until cooked (about 15 minutes for a 1kg pet).
The cooking time can be estimated at 14 minutes per kilo of crabs
Step 4. Remove the crabs from the pot
Use the tongs to lift the shellfish out of the pot. Place them in a colander over cold running water, or immerse them in a bowl of ice water until they have cooled. Avoid touching the crabs with your hands when they are hot, as the water inside them can burn you.
Watch out for drops of boiling water that come out of the pet when you take it out of the pot. You should lift the crab, let it drain for a few seconds, then transfer it to the ice water
Method 3 of 4: Boil a Crab
Step 1. Check the size of the pot
Choose a large pot with a lid and try to put the crabs in it to make sure there is enough space. Under the rim of the pot, there should be 8-10 cm free when you have put the shellfish on the bottom. Remember what level of the pot they reach.
Remove the crabs from the pot and set them aside while you prepare the water
Step 2. Boil the water
Fill the pot with water up to 5-7 cm higher than the level the crabs had reached. Put the lid on the pot and boil the water over high heat. You will notice that the steam will begin to escape from under the lid as the water boils.
To give your dish more flavor, you can boil the crabs in the vegetable broth. If you prefer a simpler flavor, you can add a lemon wedge to the water
Step 3. Put the crabs in the water and boil them
Slowly and carefully dip them into the pot. Cover and set the timer to 15 minutes (if you're cooking one or two 250g crabs) or 20 minutes (if you're cooking larger crabs). When the water starts boiling again, turn the heat down to simmer the shellfish.
You need to check the pot while cooking. Make sure the water always produces a lot of bubbles. Avoid boiling the crabs throughout the cooking time, as this can make their meat tough and chewy
Step 4. Remove the crabs from the pot
Use the tongs to lift the shellfish out of the pot. Put them in a colander in the sink to drain the hot water. If you want to season the crabs without waiting too long, rinse them with cold water while they are in the colander.
Be careful when handling boiling water and freshly cooked crabs. Use pot holders to hold the tongs (especially if they are made of metal), as they can heat up too
Method 4 of 4: Grilling a Crab
Step 1. Prepare the grill and marinade (if desired)
Heat the grill to high temperature with direct heat. While you wait, gently tap the shell of the crabs with a rolling pin to break them apart. This allows the marinade to better flavor the meat. To prepare it, mix olive oil, salt and garlic (according to your taste). Cook the crabs spread with the sauce.
- You can prepare the marinade in advance (up to 3 hours before grilling). This way the crabs will be tastier.
- If you don't want to marinate the crabs, you should at least cut the legs of the king crab and smear them with a little oil. This way they won't stick to the grill and it will be easier to get to the meat.
Step 2. Grill the crab
Put it directly on the metal grill. If you are afraid of getting burned, use tongs to handle the animal. Try to arrange the thicker or more compact shellfish in the hottest part of the grill (usually in the center). If you are using pre-steamed animals that have been frozen and thawed, cook them on the grill for four minutes before turning them using tongs. Let them cook for another four minutes on the other side.
If you are making fresh crab you just killed, grill it on one side for 10 minutes before turning it over and letting it cook for another 10
Step 3. Finished
Advice
- Keep kitchen windows open to prevent the unpleasant smell of crabs from permeating the furniture.
- Remember that live crabs can hit you with their claws. Be careful when handling them.
