Whether you can visit the harbour for the new season’s crab catch, or you rely on your local fishmonger, don't be afraid to crack into these crustaceans yourself – learn how to remove crab meat then try some divine crab recipes.
Tips when buying crab
When buying ready-dressed crab, ask if it contains just white crabmeat. Occasionally, these consist of mainly brown crabmeat, with a little of the more expensive white meat cunningly scattered over the top, making it look like there is more than there actually is. There’s often very little or no claw meat, either – this is mostly sold separately as a premium product.
Take the plunge and remove the meat from a freshly cooked crab yourself – it takes time and practice, but it’s worth the bother (for instructions, see below). A 1kg, well-picked cock crab will, on average, yield 250g white meat, plus plenty of brown meat.
What do I do with the brown crabmeat?
The recipes here use just white crabmeat, but if you’ve picked the crabmeat from a crab yourself, you’ll also yield some brown crabmeat, which has lots of flavour. Try beating it into softened butter with a little lemon juice and some salt and cayenne pepper, to taste. Chill until firm, and spread on warm toast as a snack. You could also substitute 50g brown meat for the same amount of white meat in the potted crab recipe.
How to remove meat from a cooked crab
1. Put the crab, back- shell down, on a board and break off the claws.
2. Twist off the thinner legs, trying to remove the knuckle joints with them, and discard. This makes it easier to remove the white meat from the body cavity later on.
3. Lift up the tail flap, which will be pressed close up against the belly of the crab, break it off, and discard it.
4. Push the blade of a large knife in between the body and the back shell, at the point from which you broke off the tail, and twist the blade to release the body.
5. Holding the back-shell down, put your thumbs on each side of the body section and press upwards firmly to release it. Lift it away from the back shell.
6. Pull off and discard the feathery looking gills (often called dead man’s fingers) from the body section and the small sac at the top of the crab’s body.
7. Scoop out the brown meat from the centre of the body; keep separate from the white meat.
8. Cut the body in half. Remove the white meat from the little channels with a crab pick.
9. Crack the shell of the claws with a hammer, and take out the meat, removing the thin bone concealed within the meat of the pincers.
10. Scoop out the rest of the brown meat from the back shell.