Simple Ways to Cook Fresh Crab at Home

A British Seaside Staple Worth Doing Properly

There is no better supper than a plate of freshly cooked crab, eaten within sight of the water that produced it. Ask anyone who has spent a childhood summer on a harbour wall in Cornwall, Pembrokeshire or the Yorkshire coast, and they will tell you the same thing: crab needs very little doing to it. The trick is to do that little well.

A whole crab is not a shy ingredient. Its sweetness is already there, locked into the shell. Your job is simply to cook it briefly, cool it fast, and then get out of its way. Buy well, cook it within a day, and you will have something that tastes of the sea and a good deal better than most restaurant versions.

Choosing a Crab That Deserves the Effort

The best British crab you will find is the brown crab, sometimes sold as edible crab. It is heavy, dark-shelled and generous. Spider crabs turn up too, especially in the South West, and give wonderfully sweet, slender meat, though you will work harder for less reward. Cock crabs have the biggest claws and the most white meat; hens carry the rich brown meat in the body and are prized for it.

• Pick a crab that feels heavy for its size. Lightness usually means water and emptiness.
• Check the underside. A wet, dark or sunken belly is a sign of a crab that has been sitting too long.
• For a live crab, look for lively movement and small bubbles of moisture at the mouth.
• Freshly cooked crab should smell of cool sea, never of ammonia. If it smells sharp, walk away.

If you buy it cooked, buy it the day you plan to eat it. If you buy it live, keep it in the fridge, wrapped in damp newspaper, and cook it the same day. An hour in the coldest part of the fridge before cooking will slow it down and settle it.

Steam, Don't Boil, and Keep It Brief

Boiling leaches flavour out of the meat and into the water. Steaming keeps the sweetness where it belongs. Set a large pan with a steamer basket over high heat, with an inch or two of well-salted water below that never touches the base of the basket. Tuck in a bay leaf and a few peppercorns if you like.

When the steam is steady, lower the crab in, shell side down. A common rule that works well is roughly fifteen minutes for the first 500g, then five to six minutes for each additional 500g. A one-kilo crab therefore wants around twenty-one minutes. Keep the lid on and resist lifting it. The shell will turn a deep, unmistakable orange-red.

Cook one or two at a time, not four. Crowding the pan slows the steaming and leaves you with a crab that is overcooked at the edges and underdone in the middle.

Cool It Fast, Then Let It Rest

The moment the crab is ready, lift it out and plunge it into a bowl of iced water for about ten minutes. This stops the cooking dead and prevents that dry, cottony texture that spoils so many home-cooked crabs. Do not leave it soaking for half an hour; water gets into the meat and washes the sweetness away.

Drain thoroughly, wrap in a clean cloth, and chill it for at least an hour before you pick the meat out. It is far easier to handle cold, and the flavour firms up beautifully overnight.

Getting the Meat Out Without Losing Your Temper

Work over a large bowl, with a tea towel beneath the crab to stop it sliding. Twist off the legs and claws first. Crack the claws with the back of a heavy knife or roll them firmly with a rolling pin, wrapping them in the towel so shell does not fly across the kitchen.

• The white meat comes from the claws, the legs and the pockets inside the shell. Keep it in one bowl.
• The brown meat sits in the body cavity. Spoon it out carefully, discarding the feathery gills and the small sac behind the eyes.
• Check for shell splinters with your fingertips as you go. There is always one.

The Simplest Possible Coastal Supper

Whisk a light mustard dressing: one teaspoon of Dijon mustard, one tablespoon of white wine vinegar, four tablespoons of rapeseed oil, a pinch of caster sugar, a squeeze of lemon, sea salt and black pepper. It should be loose and bright, not thick.

Pile the white meat into the middle of the plate, spoon the brown meat alongside it, and let everyone help themselves. Serve with lemon wedges, a dish of the dressing and thick slices of brown bread spread with salted butter. A handful of watercress or some sharp pickled cucumber is all the embellishment you need. This is a supper to be eaten slowly, with a glass of something dry and cold, in the last of the evening light.

If you have meat left over, the traditional British answer is a dressed crab: fill the clean shell with brown meat spread across the base, pile the white meat on top, dust with breadcrumbs and parsley. Otherwise, stir it through warm pasta, fold it into a sandwich with plenty of black pepper, or bind it with a little mayonnaise for crab cakes the next day. Brown meat spread on hot toast is one of the great forgotten pleasures of the British seaside kitchen.