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Tackling a whole king crab


Sherry B

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I was in an Asian market today buying shiritaki noodles, and I realized that it's King Crab season! They have them live in tanks, and they're enormous, and fairly feisty looking.

I'm cool with Dungeness crab, I've cooked lots of them, but I can't fathom dealing with one of these monsters, and I was too shy to ask for help.

Does anyone know if they sell them live? Or do they kill them at the store? If live, how on earth would you get them home?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated, I love crab, but I've never seen Kings live before today. Except on "The Deadliest Catch", of course :raz:

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I was in an Asian market today buying shiritaki noodles, and I realized that it's King Crab season! They have them live in tanks, and they're enormous, and fairly feisty looking.

I'm cool with Dungeness crab, I've cooked lots of them, but I can't fathom dealing with one of these monsters, and I was too shy to ask for help.

Does anyone know if they sell them live? Or do they kill them at the store? If live, how on earth would you get them home?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated, I love crab, but I've never seen Kings live before today. Except on "The Deadliest Catch", of course :raz:

I think normally, Alaskan king crab is cooked and frozen as soon as the ship unloads them, and they stay frozen until they are bought at retail. As far as I know they are available year-round. I may be wrong on the above but I think that's right. Costco has king crab roadshows and it seems to me as though there is no time of year they don't come to sell crabs at Costco. Most if not all of the Costco crabs are from Russian waters. I assume Russian ones are processed the the same way as Alaskan. Anyone know for sure? I have never seen live ones sold down here.

An aside, an Asian market near me sells live Australian crabs. These are much heavier than king, but the legs are proportional to the body. They sell for either 25.00 or 45.00/pound retail (I know, the diff could be a show-stopper) and they must weigh 6 pounds each. They're HUGE. Does anyone know how to cook those daddys?

John S.

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When the new, 80,00 sq. ft. WHole Foods opened here in Austin a couple years ago, they had a tank with live King Crab, an d they were quite expensive, around $25/lb, which would make a whole one well over $100, but they got rid of their 'live tanks'-they caved in to pressure from the PETA types for 'steaming lobsters to death'-go figure.

Frank in Austin

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in answer to your question ..yes they will kill them and break them down for you ..just ask ..dont be shy ..the folks who run the seafood sections of these markets love to talk about their fish ..even if there is a language barrier they will with sign language and a few words get the point across ...you dont have to carry that big live king crab home in a bag I promise..just say please kill and clean it for me ..and if they have a steamer there they will steam it (usually at no additional charge) as well ...

good luck!

why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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in answer to your question ..yes they will kill them and break them down for you ..just ask ..dont be shy ..the folks who run the seafood sections of these markets love to talk about their fish ..even if there is a language barrier they will with sign language and a few words get the point across ...you dont have to carry that big live king crab home in a bag  I promise..just say please kill and clean it for me  ..and if they have a steamer there they will steam it (usually at no additional charge) as well ...

good luck!

Ahhh, thank you! I came close to buying one yesterday, but it was Saturday, and very crowded around the tanks, which were very full of these massive creatures.

I'll go back this week when it's quieter, and ask them to kill it for me. One more quick question, is it just the legs that are eaten? And if so, if I were to take them home raw, would they last for the hour or so that it would take me to get them home without going off? I could have a cooler with ice, etc.

I'm just thinking I'd rather transport them raw than hot and cooked.

The live King Crabs at the market (T & T Supermarket) were $8.99 a pound.

Edited by Sherry B (log)
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Keep them on ice for sure bring a cooler and have them give you some crushed ice in a bag ...I dont what is inside that body I have only shared crabs like this and we just ended up with the legs... but ask them to clean it and give you all the parts you can eat.. dont forget you can make stock with the shells and all the other things in there ..I am not very technical about this...you can just prepare them by dropping the legs in salted water or you can put butter fresh garlic smashed and cracked pepper in a pan ..wack the legs into smaller pieces and just cook them in the butter with the lid on the pan ...that is where I would be going with those!!!

cook them as soon as possible after they are killed for you that is so important to get the best taste!

why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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PS I was just in the T & T market on Thursday ..you are right those are some really nice looking crabs I would be right there with you if I could have figured out how to bring one home!!!

enjoy your score the price was not bad at all for such monsters!

Edited by hummingbirdkiss (log)
why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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To my shame....I went to T & T, and came home with a Dungeness. I had picked out (the smallest) King, but it was almost $60.00, and I couldn't justify paying that much, since the hubster doesn't do crab.

I thought of buying it and freezing the legs, etc. but I need to do a bit more research.

The Dungeness was wildly yummy, though, with garlicky butter and nothing else but some white wine.

I so appreciate the help, hummingbird, maybe someday we can get together for a King!

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I think dungeness is a far superior crab to any other including the king crab so you made the best choice in my opinion!!! It is hands down my favorite meal to have one or two ...sometimes I can eat three! :shock:

Next time I come to BC we should have crab on the beach! for sure!!!

why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

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As suggested, a big cooler and lots of ice are required to bring the king crab home alive. There are large ones and some kinds that look smaller.

Anyway don't have the store break it down for various reasons.

Get a pot large enough to handle the whole crab to boiling and cook the crab judging the time like a lobster for weight.

Run under cold water or an ice bath to stop the cooking until cool enough to handle. The shells are useless and DO NOT make a good stock.

Remove the legs and use a shears or special seafood shears to cut and remove the meat.

Remove the apron under the crab body and either remove the top shell from the bottom structure or using a large heavy knife cut the crab in half and remove the parts. White meat is edible and remove from the body cavities. Feathery stuff is gills, discard, and light colored stuff is commonly referrred to a 'crab brains' but is reallyliver/roe. Save and use in a sauce for pasta.

Chill the meat and either eat as is or use in a recipe. If you purchase a standard sized king you will have meat for a couple of meals.-Dick

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  • 11 months later...

Hola,

Moved awfully close to china town a few weeks ago and I took a walk --found some good pork and lots of good braising beefs cuts. Turned a corner and WHAM giant crawling massive huge king crabs going for $5-6/lb.

I kind of want one.

I have no idea how I would prep the thing. Or even kill it. It's _huge_.

All I can find googling is stuff about king crab legs.

Has anyone ever tackled one of these before? Can anyone point me to a good reference (book or webpage)? I really want to have folks over for a king crab feast and pass out from a crab-butter-garlic induced coma.

Any ideas?

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I found this for you,

http://www.fishex.com/recipes/crab/roasted-whole-crab.html,

note sure if this is what you're looking for.

Anyways, how big are we talking here?

Obviously you are planning to conquer the crabs at home, so I hope you have big pots and pans!

Good luck, let us know how it goes. I want some pictures!

Edited by jlaw6402 (log)
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Hola,

Moved awfully close to china town a few weeks ago and I took a walk --found some good pork and lots of good braising beefs cuts.  Turned a corner and WHAM giant crawling massive huge king crabs going for $5-6/lb. 

I kind of want one.

I have no idea how I would prep the thing.  Or even kill it.  It's _huge_. 

All I can find googling is stuff about king crab legs. 

Has anyone ever tackled one of these before?  Can anyone point me to a good reference (book or webpage)?  I really want to have folks over for a king crab feast and pass out from a crab-butter-garlic induced coma. 

Any ideas?

I suggest that you cook it just like you would anyother crab accept on a larger scale (eg. a really big pot!) bring a large amount of water to a boil, add some aromatics (onion, celery, carrot ect.) maybe a little white wine (or a lot in this case) throw in the crab(s) alive (you may need to push them down into the water as some crabs will push back up to get out of the water) and simmer until it turns bright red.

I am not sure about the body meat on one of these guys as I have not actually worked with one whole and have only seen the legs for sale so the body meat might not be very good or easy to get at but it seems like it should be there.

good luck and please take some pics!

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Trying to dunk a huge king crab into a pot of boiling water might be quite a chore, especially if it fights back!

If you have a large freezer, put the crab in there while you get that big pot of water boiling. That will "put it to sleep" without freezing the meat, and there'll be no resistence when it goes for a hot bath.

Dejah

www.hillmanweb.com

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Hola,

Moved awfully close to china town a few weeks ago and I took a walk --found some good pork and lots of good braising beefs cuts.  Turned a corner and WHAM giant crawling massive huge king crabs going for $5-6/lb. 

I'm surprised. I thought (correct me if I'm wrong) that the crabs (Alaskan King or Russian King) were always frozen upon arrival back at the harbor from where the boats originate, and that they have to be kept frozen until end-user purchase.

John S.

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Hola,

Moved awfully close to china town a few weeks ago and I took a walk --found some good pork and lots of good braising beefs cuts.  Turned a corner and WHAM giant crawling massive huge king crabs going for $5-6/lb. 

I'm surprised. I thought (correct me if I'm wrong) that the crabs (Alaskan King or Russian King) were always frozen upon arrival back at the harbor from where the boats originate, and that they have to be kept frozen until end-user purchase.

John S.

We can buy them fresh and alive here. It's King Crab season as we speak and they are going for about $9/lb right now. The best way to do cook it is to boil it in a huge pot of water...probably outside on a propane burner.

fmed

de gustibus non est disputandum

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I'm surprised. I thought (correct me if I'm wrong) that the crabs (Alaskan King or Russian King) were always frozen upon arrival back at the harbor from where the boats originate, and that they have to be kept frozen until end-user purchase.

We see them here in Chinese restaurants too, all big and scary looking in the tanks. I have no idea how they kill them, but the legs are usually steamed then topped with garlic. Even better is when they top them with fried shallots.

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We see them here in Chinese restaurants too, all big and scary looking in the tanks.

Okay, grab your shotgun (I've been playing Left For Dead too long!)...

I'd be interesting to find out the average ratio of body-to-leg meat there is in one of those monsters.

Starkman

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It's quite common in some Chinese shops here (Vancouver) too.

Don't do this

There was a note above about sticking it in the freezer. Do it. About 20 minutes, then bring a large plastic tub to your freezer and a chef knife or cleaver. Put it upside down in the tub. If it's moving, put it back in the freezer. Take your knife and plunge it point first above the little arrow on its belly and then tilt down to split through the head of the body. Dead. Rinse.

This is a picture from Discovery's tv show: (king crab belly) it illustrates the arrow on the belly that I'm talking about. Trying to dispatch them by splitting the same way you do a lobster is too difficult because their top shell is so thick. I've found sticking the point of the knife in there allows you to split open from underneath.

Cook however you please.

It's difficult, but splitting the legs and rubbing a compound butter of your choice and baking is good. Steam first for a few minutes if you like. There is some meat in the body ... from a king crab you'll get the same amount of body meat as from a Dungeness 1/4 the size, in my experience.

Don't boil it. That's just silly. Waste of energy and adds absolutely nothing to flavour the meat regardless of the aromatics you put in the water. Steam it if you want to kill it through cooking. A minute fraction of the energy required and just as fast to death.

But in my opinion, Dungeness taste better and are easier to deal with.

edited to add: Just noticed you're in Vancouver too. You must mean T&T. Let me know if you need another eater ;)

Edited by mtigges (log)
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Agreed that steaming is the ideal way...but for the home cook that would perhaps be even harder to accomplish than boiling - though you could add a mere couple of inches of water to a huge pot and it would be a virtual steamer right there.

Right now you can order King Crab cooked for about $13/lb at one of the top end Chinese restuarants here...or you can have it prepped four ways for about $25 per person. It might be worth it just to go to a restaurant. Consider this too: the ones going for that super-low price are often ones with missing or deformed limbs....so if you are not a big fan of the head meat(s), then the bang for the buck is lower that expected.

Here are some pics from T&T today (King at $9.68/lb):

gallery_38405_5763_237299.jpg

gallery_38405_5763_349875.jpg

gallery_38405_5763_97727.jpg

Edited by fmed (log)

fmed

de gustibus non est disputandum

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I bought queen crabs (Opilio crabs) and they're a bit smaller than the king crabs. They have the same general structure and to eat them, basically you can start with the legs first then tackle the body. Or vise-versa. The thing is most of the meat are located in the legs, then the leg joints on the crab body. If you're lucky, you can get crab mustard in the innermost part of the crab. But usually that space is taken up by crab innards like the dead man's fingers and has no meat at all.

I would also advise with going about with steaming the crab as to boiling.

Doddie aka Domestic Goddess

"Nobody loves pork more than a Filipino"

eGFoodblog: Adobo and Fried Chicken in Korea

The dark side... my own blog: A Box of Jalapenos

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I still may pay $ for a good one and tackle it. It just looks like a fun project. The misses is all over it --she loves crab, and there's no harm in keeping her happy.

Maybe this weekend if I don't get bogged down with bike racing.

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