Boiled Hard-shell Crabs
Ingredients
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Add 1 to 2 cups of coarse sea salt to the boiling water.
Using kitchen tongs, carefully drop the crabs into the water headfirst.
Boil rapidly for about 10 minutes, or until the shells are bright red.
Do not overcook, as they will become watery.
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
- Live hard-shell crabs
- Provide the main protein, which firms and turns opaque as it cooks in boiling water.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the cooking water so the crab meat is flavoured as it cooks.
The step that matters
Do not overcook the crabs. Prolonged boiling pushes the meat past tender into dry, tough texture and draws out moisture, leaving the crab watery and bland. Watch the shell colour and stop once it turns bright red.
“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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