Mud Crab Cooking Tips???

[oldboot]

I'm sure there are plenty of runaway muddie stories.

Like the neibour who comes up the driveway with an untied muddie by the back flippers........Err Um... is this yours, I saw it walking down the road .

cheers

[daveozz]

reminds me of a good story.
i'm a new south welshman.i moved up to paradise,(brissie) about 10 years ago.i'd only ever caught blue swimmers (sandies),so decided to go after the elusive muddie.
first time out at cabbage tree and a great night out brought 8 nice bucks.chucked 'em in the esky on ice and went home as i got home the neighbour came over and asked how i went.i opened up the esky reached in and lifted 1 out holding the back of the carapace like a sandy.he sh#t himself,scared the hell out of me and i dropped the crab on the grass.it was still alive and started to make its way towards my toes.
my wife and the neighbours wife were in fits of hysterics watching me jumping up and down.moral of the story is find out how to handle these buggers before you catch 'em.luckily the neighbour was there or else i might be a few digits short.
hope you got a laugh out of this.
cheers
dave

[fishheadstew]

Thanks for the great cooking tips fellas.

Hope I'm not hijacking the thread with another crab story... but when my mum was a young girl (about the late 1940's), her family used to holiday at Hollywell Caravan Park on the GC broadwater most xmases. Anyway, her dad and brothers came back one night with a hessian sugar bag full of muddies. They were staying in a fibro hut/bungalow at the park. The manager of the park used to turn the generator (lights) off at 10:00pm and would flick the lights on and off 10 or 15 minutes before so that everyone could get into bed or fire up their kerosene lamps before lights out. Anyway... this night... they get back about 5 mins before 10pm and miss the warning. Her dad (my grandad) opens the bag on the concrete floor and starts to shake it so they can deal with them one or two at a time and just as a couple come out... the lights go off. They all jump straight into their beds. The rest of the bag full of crabs make their way out and everyone can hear them hissing and slithering around the floor. No one is game to put a foot on the floor in pitch black darkness. My mum can hardly sleep as she is worried that her sheet might dangle down and a crab manages to grab on and climb up into her bed. The bungalow walls had a breeze space at the bottom so the crabs could escape. The next three days they were finding them all over the caravan park behind people's fridges etc.

[Fiji fish head]

The best Fiji Crab recipe

-2 Can coconut milk
• 1 Lime, juiced
• 3-1/2 tbsp curry powder
• 1-1/2 tbsp Chili powder
• 2 tsp Turmeric powder
• 8-10 Curry leaves
• 2 Red onions, sliced
• 4-6 Cloves garlic
• 1 Inch fresh ginger, sliced
• 4 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 3 Cups water
• Salt to taste

Wash the crabs and cut Mud cut into 4. •Crack the shells and claws gently with a mallet. •Grind onions, garlic and ginger to make a fine paste. •Add vegetable oil to a hot pot and stir-fry paste for 2-3 minutes. •Take a small bowl, combine chili powder, curry powder and turmeric powder, few tbsp water and mix into a thick paste. •Add this paste to the pot, stir-fry till quite toasted and oil starts to ooze from paste. •Now add coconut milk, curry leaves, water, and season with salt. •When the mixture starts to boil, decrease the heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally till the sauce thickens slightly for about 15-18 minutes. •Add lime juice and crabs, stir to coat with sauce. •Cover and simmer till crabs turn red. •Take out crabs from the pot and keep warm, let stand for about 15 minutes

[NEWBY]

Hi Keith.

Here's the best tip you will ever get.

Clean them first!

Makes an amazing difference to quality of body meat.

Once cleaned. Big Pot. just an inch of 2 of water and well fitted lid. Plenty of salt (or even better clean sea water. Bring to the boil. Put in crabs. Bring back to the boil and then boil/steam with lid on for 13 to 15 minutes (depending on the size of the crabs.

Fresh bread/cold beer =

PS : I cook and sell about 200 on a good week amongst the 2 tonne of fish I use a month inmy business and grew up on them as a kid. CLEAN THEM FIRST.

KC

I gotta be honest KC. I have also eaten literally hundreds of the things and my preference is to chill them to sleep, drop them whole and uncleaned into rapidly boiling sea or creek water for 10 minutes. Take out and drop back in slurry to stop cooking process. Rip apart and use crusty bread to soak up the soup (or shit if your not sure on anatomy) Really nice when still warm.
We do this on the boat on a regular basis.
The soup (shit) inside is sweet and rich. very tasty...

[Skusto]

Ok.....I will admit my failings as a recently converted Queenslander....I have never eaten mud crab....though i constantly here people raving over its taste and read all the reports about its eating qualities. In restaurants i cant afford it, i dont set crab pots so i dont catch any....and i dont have any mates who go crabbing so i cant bribe them. I have caught and eaten blue swimmers (sand crabs) in years gone by, and my mother loves em. Now my goal is to get a couple of these buggers and try them.

The question i have in relation to this post is..........how do you go about cleaning them before you cook them???????

Greg

well we used to just grab the axe out on the little buggers and chop them right in half.. be carefull though not to chop ya toes... but yeah then take the shell and feathers/gunk out and boil them for 10 mins. chopping them in half to is always good as u dont need a big round pot to cook them with which is great. can get away with alot smaller

[Swindells]

I love a bit of curried crab, there is so many dishes you can create with crabs. i must admit we don't clean them before cooking and have never had any complaints (must try it)

[BayDog]

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4076279/11003971

thanks to sally. i get ALL my seafood recipes from this site, it's an invaluable resource for me.

another recipe i do myself is to cook garlic ginger and onion in a little oil and then add crab pieces and some liquid to steam like white wine or beer and then throw in some shallots.

[goanna1]

KIll crabs by Stabbing them towards the eyes from under the flap that covers their di*ks Allow a couple of minutes for to stop twitching. place in boiling sea water return to the boil and boil for 15 minutes ( or about 20 minutes from when you put them in the boiling water. allow to cool for 10 minutes then remove carapice feather gills and custard then wash in sea water eat enjoy . if you have to chill them make sure they stay on top of the ice submerging them will ruin them
goanna

[rumy1]

I used to tie them up and put them in the freezer but now I have a small axe. I put them on the ground and line them up, one swift hit and they are in half and dead with all thier legs and claws intact.
Really does save alot of stuffing around !!!

[oldboot]

The considered most humane method is immersion in saltwater and ice slurry.

And apparantly it results in the best flavour and texture of the flesh too.

cheers

[podo110976]

Could anyone give me a few tips on cooking mud crabs.
Thank you

Thanks mate. My neighbour just dropped me over three muddies. I have only ever eaten them never cooked them. I new the place to find out how, and used your clean before cooking method. Amazing how beautiful they were. Thanks for the advice.

[bluegumfergie]

I have to agree with NEWBY, i have been drinking crab backs & eating crab butter for 40 years, my father & grandfather both did as well. The best crab sandwich you will ever eat is one that has crab butter spread on it, flavour is unbeatable.

[kc]

Crab Butter? Call it for what it is. A sh!t sandwich...you sick, sick man.

Clean them first

If you really want to get excited...check out the trip advisor website.

Look up the number 1 rated restaurant on the Great Barrier Reef

Then read a few reviews of our chilli/curry crab. Would honestly give a horn to a jellyfish!

If you then ask very nicely, I might even publish my very secret and personally developed recipe for what could just be the best food on the planet

KC

[walr12]

Where's the recipe KC, I live in the Burdekin, Nth Qld, sick of the same old fare, new recipe would be nice.
walr