To Boil Crabs
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the crabs
Bring the water and salt to a boil in a pot.
Add the crabs and boil them for 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove the crabs and wipe them clean.
Finish and serve
Rub the crabs with butter or sweet oil.
Break off the small claws and arrange them in rows around the edge of a dish, finishing toward the center.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Butter or sweet oil
- Adds fat and a rich, smooth flavor to the cooked crabs.
The step that matters
Boiling the crabs for 10 to 12 minutes. Boiling too long pushes the proteins in the crab meat too far, making it tough, dry and rubbery. Timing the boil carefully keeps the meat tender and moist.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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