Learning how to cook crab is well worth the effort. High in minerals and protein, crab is a very healthy food and low in calories. The nutrient composition of crab is available in the USDA database, but here are the specific nutrients you’ll find in one Alaska King crab leg weighing 172 grams:
- 10 mg zinc, which helps prevent fatigue and boosts the immune system
- 1.6 mg copper, important for healthy red blood cells
- 63 mcg selenium, which may help prevent cancer
- 377 mg phosphorus, essential for energy production
- 32 grams of protein, which helps keep your body lean
- 144 calories
Crab also contains carotenoids like alpha and beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and B-cryptoxanthin—important phytonutrients that support eyesight, prostate health, and skin health.
What Do You Know About a Crab’s Shell?
Learning how to cook crab starts with selecting the right crab. Crabs are like lobsters in that they shed their shells to grow. During this process, the old shell is discarded, and the crab absorbs water to increase its size. For a few days, the new shell remains soft before it begins to harden.
When buying crab, you can choose between hard-shell and soft-shell varieties. Chefs tend to prefer soft-shell crabs because they are more tender, succulent, and flavorful.
In the U.S. and Canada, there are four primary types of crab:
Dungeness—large and meaty,
Blue crab—ideal for frying,
King crab—known for its tender, snowy white meat, and
Snow crab—also tender with snowy, white meat.
Select for Optimum Taste
If you’re purchasing live crabs, the taste will be superior to that of frozen crabs. Live crabs should not be kept in a tank for more than a week, and they should not smell like fish or ammonia. They should be active, not lying dormant. Crabs will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to two days.
Some recipes call for either a male or female crab. How can you tell the difference? It’s easy! The female crab has a triangle-shaped area on the underside of her shell.
When estimating how much crab you’ll need, plan for about 1-1/2 pounds of crab per person. A 2-pound crab yields about 8 ounces of crab meat.
Time to Cook Crab
When determining how to cook crab, the next step is choosing the right pot. Your pot must be large enough to fit the crab’s 10 legs and have at least 3 inches of water covering both the legs and the body. Leave a few inches of clearance below the top rim. Fill the pot with water and add a few tablespoons of salt for each half-gallon of water. The salty water mimics seawater and helps preserve the natural sodium in the meat. Bring the water to a boil.
If you want to be humane, you can ‘hypnotize’ the crab before cooking it, much like you would with a lobster. Simply hold the crab by the legs and stroke the top of its head. It will soon fall asleep—no lullabies needed. Then, slowly drop the crab into the boiling water.
Start timing when the water returns to a boil. Allow about 15-20 minutes for a 2-lb crab and up to 10 minutes for smaller crabs. You’re looking for a bright orange-red color on the shell, which indicates the crab is fully cooked. No meat thermometer is needed.
After cooking, immerse the crab in cold water for a few seconds to stop the cooking process immediately.
Serve the crab with hot, melted clarified butter, and don’t forget the crab crackers and tiny forks for digging the meat out of the legs. The parts of the crab that are not eaten include the long, spongy gills, the triangular flap from the belly of the female, and the reddish membrane covering the center of the body.
And that’s all there is to learning how to cook crab. Will you be adding Alaskan King crab to your grocery list today?
