leftover steamed whole crabs

[EricDC]

What can I do with them? Can I throw 'em in a pot of boiling water and make 'em into soup? I know I could try to get the meat out of each of them, one at a time, by hand... but I am looking for some other options.

Anyone? Thoughts / recipes?

[Christina D]

Definitely use them in crab soup. Make your favorite MD crab soup recipe or even doll up somebody else's. Take the shell and guts out, break the bodies in half (and half again if large), pull out the claws and crack, then throw the whole shebang (minus shell and guts) into the soup.

The only trick is that you have to watch the salt level of the soup before throwing in the crabs. The seasoning is very salty and can throw the soup over the top if you're not careful.

Good luck!

[rcheng]

Chop up the crabs and use them for crab bisque or crab stock. Also, there are some chinese stir fry dishes that use chopped crab. The key is the chop the crab and pre-crack them so that they can be easily picked after stir-frying.

[hon]

Yes, but you still need to take the shell off and clean out the guts and lungs before chopping!

[EricDC]

True true. Thanks!

[procrabber]

pasta sauce is best made with uncooked crabs in my opinion. and females make better pasta sauce than male crabs, since they have more fat and flavor in the meat.

you could make a simple crab dip using mayo, crab seasoning and crab meat. real simple and is great on crackers or bread. I wish I could show you guys how to pick crabs fast. I can pick them about 1-2 crabs per minute, and Im real slow compared to the pros. perhaps one of these days I will put an instructional video on my website

[Teddybear]

Well I suggest you try it if you have any leftover you don't feel like picking -- that, I believe, was the poster's point.

[Teddybear]

I am making pasta sauce with mine as we speak -- onions, white wine, tomatos, left over steamed crabs (with the gills and guts removed).

[Velvet1153]

Hi Eric,
I have the perfect solution as to how to use your leftover steamded crabs! Mail them to me!!!! I grew up in Baltimore and now live in Southern California and I desperately miss steamed Maryland bluecrabs!! I will be glad to take any leftovers off of anyones hands!

My other suggestion (if you aren't up to mailing them to me) would be to make Maryland Crabsoup. You would still have to pick some of the crab but you can put the claws in whole!

[hon]

The only way to get the meat out is to pick them!

[EricDC]

Hi, maybe I sounded dumb when I wrote that post. But to be clear, YES I am aware of how to eat steamed crabs! What I am asking is, is there anything ELSE I can do with them? Like, I ate steamed crabs... then I ate cold leftover steamed crabs... now I want to know if, like with leftover chicken bones, I can make a soup stock or anything like that. Because I am a little sick of eating 'em by hand at this point (blasphemy, I know...)

[Dennis S]

Pick them and put them in an omelette.

[Hal Laurent]

I actually don't mind picking and eating them cold.

Back when I used to have a microwave, I sometimes would reheat them in it. You have to be really careful not to overdo it, though, or they'll dry out.