Crab Legs

[Daniel]

I have a couple pounds of frozen crab legs.. Dont really feel like leaving the house to get sea urchin to stuff in it and broil a la Nobu Cookbook.. Was hoping someone could suggest what to do with them.. Stuff them in raviolis, cook with pasta, stuff with bread crumbs or crackers and broil... Or something simple.. I just dont know if flash frozen crab is good enough to eat on its own, is it? Whats your favorite recipe..

Edit to add:

I have this big block of blue cheese.. Wouldnt mind a suggestion that included it.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Hmmm, king crab legs and a mountain of bleu cheese ... say, Daniel, you wouldn't have a street address for those of us who find both irresistable, would you? You have a blessed meal about to be prepared and I know the photos will make my eyes tear and my mouth water ...

[Daniel]

I had a rather heavy day of eating.. I have decided to make the crab tomorrow.. Here was a test run cannalloni I made tonight with oyster mushrooms, white wine, garlic, bread soaked in milk, and a little of that blue cheese.. It was really good..

Edited February 19, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[christine007]

Daniel, I saw that wheel of blue cheese, did I mention the house across the street from me is for sale?

I asked my mom, who's english about what to do with that cheese.. She said to tell you that you need to wrap it in a damp cheesecloth and store it in the vegetable drawer of your fridge, and to get some Jacob's water crackers to smear the cheese on, along with pear Slices and grapes.

Beatiful cheese, enjoy!

[Jason Perlow]

Daniel, I saw that wheel of blue cheese, did I mention the house across the street from me is for sale?  

I asked my mom, who's english about what to do with that cheese.. She said to tell you that you need to wrap it in a damp cheesecloth and store it in the vegetable drawer of your fridge, and to get some Jacob's water crackers to smear the cheese on, along with pear Slices and grapes.

Beatiful cheese, enjoy!

←

Add to that a nice vintage port, and you're set.

[christine007]

Jason, you hit that nail on the head. I didn't mention port, because I'm driving a car full of kids after a trip to mom's....

[Daniel]

That does sound good.. Port and all..

[arjay]

I would like to invest in king crab legs for a group of friends, and I need to know how much to get for a moderate serving. The crab will be the entree.

In my area there is no help available.

Thanks

rj

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

I'm no expert, but my husband adores king crab legs and I make them often... and since we have dinner guests on a very regular basis (every week, unless something else is up on Saturday nights, and sometimes more often!) I've had many an occasion to serve a crowd with them. I always figure 2 pounds per person, plus a few extra pounds worth "for the pot." My husband can eat closer to three, and I'm usually fine with one... as long as there are other sides, of course. For the record, nobody ever walks away hungry, but there are *never* any leftovers, either!

Have fun!

[maher]

you can get by with a pound per person or so for a moderate entree. the problem you will have is that some people will get the meaty portion of the leg (the lower segment) and some will get the smaller end portion. depending on how many you buy for, and your ability to choose individual legs versus full clusters, you will also have the claw portion which is not very heavy on the meat, and the part that is attached to the body which is harder to clean and has smaller clumps of meat.

if you want to avoid these problems, figure on 1.5lb per person, serve up the prime segments to each of your guests, and keep the bonus bits for another lunch for you.

[arjay]

Sunny and Maher,

Thanks for the advice. This should make it a great dinner. rj

[SeafoodSuzy]

Hey! I was wondering if any of you wonderful eGulleters have any input or opinion about these great legs. I've been selling King Crab(Red and Golden), Snow Crab, and Dungeness Crab for years, and I wonder if there are any good recipes or preparation methods you guys would like to share. I'm a little wary of trying them, as frequently as I have to steam (microwave) them for my customers. Thank you in advance

[cathrynapple]

I think they're best with just a bit of lemon and dipped in melted butter. Nothing to be weary of!

[DCP]

A quick steam to reheat really is the best preparation method I've found. Because they're nearly always processed (cooked and flash-frozen), the round in the microwave (or steamer) is really just to warm.

To echo the other response - simple; a little lemon melted butter makes a perfect accompaniment.

[divalasvegas]

A quick steam to reheat really is the best preparation method I've found.  Because they're nearly always processed (cooked and flash-frozen), the round in the microwave (or steamer) is really just to warm.

To echo the other response - simple; a little lemon melted butter makes a perfect accompaniment.

←

How about treating the king crab legs ceviche style. I know they're cooked, but how about a quick marinade of the chillled chunks of the meat with lime juice then drain and add diced red or sweet white onion, diced tomatoes, chunks of avocado and some minced jalapeno with a little s&p? Serve with white tortilla chips. Of course cilantro would be a natural addition, but not for me since I generally hate the stuff.

I agree the with above posters, melted butter and lemon, with maybe a bit of hot sauce on the side is the way I like them the most.

[SeafoodSuzy]

A quick steam to reheat really is the best preparation method I've found.  Because they're nearly always processed (cooked and flash-frozen), the round in the microwave (or steamer) is really just to warm.

To echo the other response - simple; a little lemon melted butter makes a perfect accompaniment.

←

How about treating the king crab legs ceviche style. I know they're cooked, but how about a quick marinade of the chillled chunks of the meat with lime juice then drain and add diced red or sweet white onion, diced tomatoes, chunks of avocado and some minced jalapeno with a little s&p? Serve with white tortilla chips. Of course cilantro would be a natural addition, but not for me since I generally hate the stuff.

I agree the with above posters, melted butter and lemon, with maybe a bit of hot sauce on the side is the way I like them the most.

←

mmmm! Ceviche... Is the claw or the leg meat the better part? Or is it just a personal preference thing?

[Doodad]

I prefer stone crab over the others, but my wife and daughter disagree and prefer the Alaskan varieties.

I liked them steamed with a bit of lemon and a horseradishy or garlicy remoulade type sauce. Beer, crunchy bread and maybe some celery sticks and I am alright.

[divalasvegas]

A quick steam to reheat really is the best preparation method I've found.  Because they're nearly always processed (cooked and flash-frozen), the round in the microwave (or steamer) is really just to warm.

To echo the other response - simple; a little lemon melted butter makes a perfect accompaniment.

←

How about treating the king crab legs ceviche style. I know they're cooked, but how about a quick marinade of the chillled chunks of the meat with lime juice then drain and add diced red or sweet white onion, diced tomatoes, chunks of avocado and some minced jalapeno with a little s&p? Serve with white tortilla chips. Of course cilantro would be a natural addition, but not for me since I generally hate the stuff.

I agree the with above posters, melted butter and lemon, with maybe a bit of hot sauce on the side is the way I like them the most.

←

mmmm! Ceviche... Is the claw or the leg meat the better part? Or is it just a personal preference thing?

←

I would go for the leg meat, but that really is my personal preference. For my tastes, the leg meat has a more substantial, meaty texture but I think the claw meat would work as well. Also, try to experiment with other types of ceviches mixtures like those utilizing coconut milk and ginger. I have chef Douglas Rodriguez' Ceviche cookbook (HERE at Amazon) which I purchased at his Miami restaurant several years ago. It's fantastic and has a lot of great ceviche and ceviche-style preparations. Please let us know what you come up with.

[SeafoodSuzy]

A quick steam to reheat really is the best preparation method I've found.  Because they're nearly always processed (cooked and flash-frozen), the round in the microwave (or steamer) is really just to warm.

To echo the other response - simple; a little lemon melted butter makes a perfect accompaniment.

←

How about treating the king crab legs ceviche style. I know they're cooked, but how about a quick marinade of the chillled chunks of the meat with lime juice then drain and add diced red or sweet white onion, diced tomatoes, chunks of avocado and some minced jalapeno with a little s&p? Serve with white tortilla chips. Of course cilantro would be a natural addition, but not for me since I generally hate the stuff.

I agree the with above posters, melted butter and lemon, with maybe a bit of hot sauce on the side is the way I like them the most.

←

mmmm! Ceviche... Is the claw or the leg meat the better part? Or is it just a personal preference thing?

←

I would go for the leg meat, but that really is my personal preference. For my tastes, the leg meat has a more substantial, meaty texture but I think the claw meat would work as well. Also, try to experiment with other types of ceviches mixtures like those utilizing coconut milk and ginger. I have chef Douglas Rodriguez' Ceviche cookbook (HERE at Amazon) which I purchased at his Miami restaurant several years ago. It's fantastic and has a lot of great ceviche and ceviche-style preparations. Please let us know what you come up with.

←

I sure will! We had fresh Florida Stone Crab claws last week. Are they good? What about snow crab?

[canucklehead]

King Crab season has just started up in Vancouver - 13.80 a pound in local Chinese restaurants. It's a date that clearly marked on my calendar.

The crabs are kept live in holding tanks - and then the legs are split and steamed with garlic:

The garlic is pretty mellow - and the resulting dish is spectacular - the natural sweet brininess of the crab legs shining through.

[Peter the eater]

Hey! I was wondering if any of you wonderful eGulleters have any input or opinion about these great legs. I've been selling King Crab(Red and Golden), Snow Crab, and Dungeness Crab for years, and I wonder if there are any good recipes or preparation methods you guys would like to share. I'm a little wary of trying them, as frequently as I have to steam (microwave) them for my customers. Thank you in advance

←

I bought a cluster of King Crab legs recently and was quite excited to experiment with clever preparations and adulterations. I started taking a few pictures . . . cracking a few open . . . before too long all that sweet, sweet marine flesh was gone!

To answer your question SeafoodSuzy, I'm partial to the smash and suck.

[LoveToEatATL]

I've taken the meat, mixed it with a bit of mayo, celery and onion and put them in rounded chips like nachos - they are so good and so unexpected!

[heidih]

I bought a cluster of King Crab legs recently and was quite excited to experiment with clever preparations and adulterations. I started taking a few pictures . . . cracking a few open . . . before too long all that sweet, sweet marine flesh was gone!

To answer your question SeafoodSuzy, I'm partial to the smash and suck.

←

I like them just as they are as well, but highly recommend the scissors extraction method. Leaves the flesh more intact and no little bits of shell to pick out. Good kitchen scissors can even cut open the claws.

[OnigiriFB]

This is great. I just got a chance to buy life Maryland blue crabs from my asian market last week. We don't get good LIVE crab here often so I thought I'd pick out a few fiesty ones. Um... I forgot one thing. I've never cooked live crab before. Dad was always the one to kill them. I dunked the poor still fighting the tongs fellows into hot boiling water and stupidly watched them cook to death. *shudder* It's going to take me awhile to get over that one. So anyway I took them out cracked them open, chopped them into pieces with the shells still there and stir-fried them. A common Thai stir-fry for crab treated this way is to used nam prik pao (roasted chili jam). I didn't have any so I ended up just using a bit of sugar and some red pepper flakes. Talk about YUM!

Recipe kinda winged it but you can wing it too:

2 crabs boiled and cut up into pieces. (Leaving them in shell makes the dish interactive)

1 large onion sliced into half moons

4 cloves garlic minced

3 TBS chili flakes (or to taste)

2-3 tsp soy sauce

2-3 tsp fish sauce

2 tsp sugar

2 eggs, beaten

Oil

Heat oil in wok (or large frying pan). Stir-fry onions and garlic until fragrant and soft, add crab pieces. Season with soy sauce, fish sauce, and chili flakes. Stir-fry for a few minutes as crab already cooked. Add sugar, taste. Seasoning should be strong; spicy, sweet, salty. Add beaten eggs and stir fry until egg is done. There should be a good coating of eggy goodness on the crab pieces. If I had ginger I would have added a bit of that too at the beginning. This recipe was something I just came up with and winged. Seasoning can be changed. You will want to keep it sweet, salty, and spicy. A squeeze of lime would have made this dish divine. I didn't have any and it was awesome. Serve with freshly cooked jasmine rice. Devoured in 30 minutes before realizing I should have taken a picture for egullet. It's not that photogenic though but man was it good. I might even brave killing a few crabs again just to make it again. I steamed the crab right before I cooked it so was able to leave it partial cooked. If you used fully cooked crab then only stir-fry a minute before adding eggs.

This recipe could easily be done with meaty crab legs. Hope someone tries it! Oh and this method works best for those who like to suck the succulent meat from the little bits and pieces of the shells. It is not a elegant dish as it's best eaten with the hands and many a sucking sounds will ensue!

Edited July 12, 2008 by OnigiriFB (log)

[Lupinus]

Simple is best with these, and unless you live in Alaska or certain parts of Canada you are only heating as they will have been fully cooked before being frozen.

The best way I have found is to take the thawed legs and wrap them in a moistened towel (paper towels for me) with a few whole sprigs of herbs thrown in. A few stems of thyme and tarragon work nicely.

Then microwave just long enough to heat to your desired temperature, unwrap, and crack. Serve simply with some melted butter.

If you are anti-nuke machine you can also steam them. Again thaw the legs first, and bring some water with white wine to a hard boil to get as much steam as possible. Throw the same herbs as before onto the bottom of your steamer and in go the legs, again just long enough to heat to your desired temperature.

Cooking frozen is a no-no. It can make for uneven cooking, "wet" meat, and can lead to over cooking.

Boiling is also a no-no. Boiling whole crab is fine, leg clusters and boiling make for bad ju-ju.

Claw or leg meat?

Leg meat is softer and sweater, while claw meat is more substantial with a less sweet flavor, it also tends to be a bit tougher.