In article >, (Kathy in NZ) wrote:
[snip]
>
>Now that I've tried cooking crabs I'll probably do them plain next
>time. I had never cooked them before and was unsure what to do. Next
>time it will be boiled or steamed or barbecued on the flat plate, so
>that the delicate flavour of the crab is unadulterated.

The *only* way crabs should be eaten. Especially our (Oz) mud crabs
which can grow quite big:
< quoting from http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/fishweb/2454.html >
Mud crabs are large crabs with a smooth, broad carapace. They can grow
to more than 25cm shell breadth (2kg), with males generally growing
larger than females.
</quoting>

But I'm *still* hoping one day to eat "enough" of them. (Maybe a 2 kg
sample would do; most I've demolished have been rather smaller and
never "enough" -- even if you get a whole one for yourself.

>They took much longer to cook than the recipe said, probably because
>my small wok was so full of crab the heat wasn't readily getting to
>them all. I resorted to covering the contents with a lid from a large
>pot to help steam them.

Mud crabs should be boiled in a large surplus of salted water. Those
old laundry "coppers" make an ideal cooker for them. (Bit hard to
come by now though.) Do not overcook. They're pretty much
self-indicating -- when the shell goes red they're cooked.

Incidentally, here in Queensland you have to be able to tell the boys
from the girls if you go out to catch your own. It's illegal to take
the girls; and there's a minimum size limit on the boys too. You can
find an illustration of the sex differences towards the bottom of this
page: <http://www.sea-ex.com/fishphotos/crab,mud.htm>
[ I like that site -- they reckon muddies can grow to 3.5 kg! Much
better than the government can do. ;-) ]

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID